May 6, 2005

Charleston, SC - He's pushed every button and tried every conceivable lineup.

At one midseason practice, Citadel baseball coach Fred Jordan had his Bulldogs play ping-pong and shoot 3-pointers, trying anything to get the team going.

With three weekends left in the regular season, the Bulldogs now face the ultimate motivation -- start winning, or face the prospect of not playing in the Southern Conference Tournament later this month at their own Riley Park.

From here on out, every game is vital to us," said Jordan, whose team plays host to East Tennessee State for three games starting today. "And we've got to perform."

The Citadel, which won its seventh SoCon Tournament title last season, was picked to finish second in the league this season. But with nine conference games left, the Bulldogs find themselves in ninth place, 2-1/2 games behind eighth-place Davidson. Those 2-1/2 games are huge, because only the top eight teams qualify for the SoCon Tournament.

If the Bulldogs (16-29, 7-14) are left out, it will mark the first time since 1987 The Citadel has failed to make the SoCon Tournament.

We have not pitched nearly as well as expected," said Jordan, whose team is sixth in the SoCon with a team ERA of 6.02. "And we've had trouble scoring runs. But it's not from a lack of effort. Most likely, it's from trying too hard."

That's the bad news. The good news is that The Citadel's next two series are against seventh-place ETSU (11-12) and sixth-place Furman (10-10), teams that also are jockeying for the last few spots in the tournament.

The Bulldogs probably need to sweep both series, a tall order given that they haven't swept a SoCon series all season. ETSU coach Tony Skole, a former Citadel standout, has one of his best teams, and Furman has won a school-record eight straight games, including a 6-2 win over No. 13 South Carolina on Wednesday. We have the opportunity to play ourselves in or to play ourselves out of it," Jordan said. "In this game, that's all you can ask for."

ETSU (26-14) is led by pitcher Jeremy Hall (9-2, 4.91 ERA) and catcher Caleb Moore (.368), who also has a 5-1 record and 10 saves as the Bucs' closer.

Jordan said he will start Ryan Owens (4-4, 5.04 ERA) today and Justin Smith (2-1, 5.70 ERA) on Saturday. Sunday's starter is undecided.

We have to play every game like it's our last," he said.

EIGHT IS ENOUGH

Only eight teams get in the Southern Conference baseball tournament. A look at the race for the final berths:

Team Rec. Pct. Series left

4. UNCG 11-10 .524 at Wofford, App State, at C of C

5. W. Carolina 12-12 .500 Elon, at Wofford

6. Furman 10-10 .500 at C of C, Citadel, at Dav.

7. ETSU 11-12 .478 at Citadel Davidson

8. Davidson 11-13 .458 at ETSU, Furman

9. The Citadel 7-14 .333 ETSU, at Furman, GSU