Charleston, S.C. – The Citadel continues their five-game trip away from Riley Park in midweek when travel to Charleston Southern for a 3 p.m. start on Tuesday at Buccaneer Ballpark. On Wednesday, the Bulldogs will head up the coast to battle No. 27 Coastal Carolina in Conway at 6 p.m.
'dogs head across town to face bucs in ladson
The Citadel and Charleston Southern complete their cross-town series in 2011 on Tuesday when the Bulldogs travel to Buccaneer Ballpark for a 3 p.m. start. In their first meeting at Riley Park on March 29, The Citadel broke open a close game late with a 12-5 win over the Bucs.
Tuesday's game will be the 71st meeting between the two teams with The Citadel holding a 44-26 advantage. In games played in Ladson, the Bulldogs lead, 20-12. While the Bulldogs have won nine of the last 11 in the series, Charleston Southern defeated The Citadel in walk-off fashion in last year's meeting at Buccaneer Ballpark, 8-7.
scouting the buccaneers
Charleston Southern enters with a record of 20-20 through 40 games this season. The Bucs have lost four of their last five including a sweep at the hands of VMI at home over the weekend. In midweek action last week, CSU and College of Charleston split their games with the road team winning each contest.
Leading the offense which boasts an average of .292 is Nick Chinners, who homered against the Bulldogs back on March 29. He is batting .358 with 20 runs, 44 hits, 25 walks and 28 RBI. The Bucs pitching staff has a team ERA of 5.34 with 291 strikeouts. Charlie McCready is 4-1 with an ERA of 1.36 in 39.2 innings pitched and 29 strikeouts to lead the staff.
scouting the chanticleers
Coastal Carolina regains a spot in the national rankings this week at No. 27. Winners of nine of their past 11 games, the Chanticleers have lost only to a pair of ranked opponents in midweek over that span at Clemson and at Virginia. Coming off a sweep of Gardner-Webb at home, CCU travels to North Carolina on Tuesday evening.
The Chanticleers are batting .268 as a team with 27 homers and 78 doubles. Leading the offense is junior second baseman Tommy LaStella, who is batting .388 with 50 hits, 36 runs and nine homers. The pitching staff has a stellar ERA of 3.11 and is anchored by All-America ace Anthony Meo who is 5-2 with an ERA of 2.64 in 58.0 innings pitched and 58 strikeouts.
errors sink the bulldogs at furman
The Citadel had a disastrous weekend defensively at Furman as they dropped two out of three game in Greenville. In a close game in the middle innings on Friday, the Bulldog committed seven errors late to fall, 12-3. After rallying to take a lead into the ninth inning on Saturday, a pair of Citadel miscues in the bottom of the frame allowed the Paladins to walk-off with a 7-6 win. Justin Mackert's two homers and five RBI lifted The Citadel to a 9-7 win in 10 innings on Sunday, while TJ Clarkson nailed down his second save of the week to salvage a game for the Bulldogs.
the citadel steps out of conference for eight games
After seven straight weekends of Southern Conference action, The Citadel begins a stretch where their next eight games, including a pair of weekend series, are against opponents outside of the conference. The stretch begins with Charleston Southern on April 19 and concludes with Winthrop on May 4 with weekend series against USC Upstate and Presbyterian mixed in between.
cribb helps the citadel stun no. 3 south carolina
Freshman LHP Logan Cribb made his first career start on April 12 against No. 3 South Carolina and pitched into the ninth inning, scattering eight hits, three walks and hurling 8.0 scoreless innings with three strikeouts as The Citadel shutout the Gamecocks for the first time since 1971 with a 2-0 win in front of the seventh largest crowd in school history with 5,032 fans at Riley Park.
TJ Clarkson came on with the bases loaded and no outs and retired all three batters he faced to earn his first career save and preserve the win and the shutout for the Bulldogs. The victory is the highest ranked team The Citadel has beaten since the 2007 season when they defeated top-ranked South Carolina.
logan cribb earns socon co-pitcher of the week
As a reward for his stellar start against No. 3 South Carolina, freshman left-hander Logan Cribb was named the SoCon Co-Pitcher of the Week. Cribb (Rock Hill, S.C.) made his first career start against No. 3 South Carolina on Tuesday and hurled 8.0 scoreless innings and pitched into the ninth inning as The Citadel shutout the Gamecocks for the first time since 1971 in a 2-0 victory.
The freshman scattered eight hits and walked three while striking out a career-high three batters. Before his start on Tuesday, the southpaw had never pitched more than 2.2 innings. He worked two more innings over the weekend, surrendering one earned run. Sharing the honor with Appalachian State's Ryan Arrowood, who threw a complete-game four-hit shutout against Samford over the weekend, Cribb becomes the first Bulldog to win the award this season.
mahaffey's season-ending knee injury
Senior left-handed pitcher Drew Mahaffey will undergo season-ending surgery in May after he injured his knee on April 10 against College of Charleston. The injury occurred when Mahaffey (Summerville, S.C.) struck out the Cougars' Matt Leeds in the fifth inning of Sunday's game. The senior slipped and fell off the mound while throwing the pitch and did not return to the game.
Mahaffey finishes sixth all-time at The Citadel with 19 career saves and is 10th on the all-time career list with 84 appearances.
orvin's career day sparks biggest comeback of the season
Nick Orvin registered a career high in hits and RBI on April 9 when he went 5-for-5 with five RBI, three doubles, two runs and a walk while propelling the Bulldogs to a wild 17-14 comeback win over College of Charleston. Orvin's bases-clearing double into the left center gap in the bottom of the eighth inning broke a 14-14 tie and proved to be the game-winning hit.
The Bulldogs, who were down 12-5 in the sixth, outscored the Cougars over the final three frames by a 10-2 margin to pull out the win. Tyler Griffin came on to pinch hit and went 2-for-2 with three RBI, while Brad Felder went 2-for-5 with three clutch RBI late in addition to Orvin's monster day at the plate to lead the Bulldogs.
Talley gets 20th win and 200th career strikeout
Senior Matt Talley threw his second consecutive complete game on April 8 and shutdown the high powered College of Charleston offense by scattering nine hits and two runs over 9.0 innings. The win is the 20th of Talley's career and helped the Bulldogs take the series from the Cougars. The southpaw recorded his 200th career strikeout in the sixth inning when he fanned Charleston's Rob Kral.
jackson MAKES IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Freshman Joe Jackson has made an immediate impact for the Bulldogs this season. The Mauldin, S.C. native is hitting .325 with 18 runs, 17 RBI, six doubles and a triple. He has added 15 walks and a pair of stolen bases while alternating between catcher and designated hitter in 31 starts this season.
TEXAN GETTIN' IT DONE
Freshman Drew DeKerlegand has been impressive in seizing the starting job at third base this season. The Pearland, Texas native began his career with an 11-game hit streak. He has reached base in 32 out of 36 games this season. So far in 2011, DeKerlegand has 40 hits, 16 RBI and 24 runs. He also has nine doubles, two triples, two homers and is batting .303.
LADD REACHING BASE
Redshirt junior William Ladd reached base in the first 15 games of the 2011 season and has reached base in 34 of 36 games this season, including the last 11 games. The versatile outfielder has played in both left and right field this season and is currently hitting .324 with 41 hits, 25 runs and 24 RBI. He has 10 walks, has been hit by 11 pitches and has nine stolen bases. He also had a career-high 11-game hit streak this season that ended against Samford. Ladd belted a three-run homer at Wofford on March 25 for his third career homer and tied a career high with three RBI.
road warriors
After starting the 2011 season with 20 consecutive home games (due to a rainout at Winthrop on March 15), the Bulldogs hit the road for the first time at Wofford on March 25-27. The series with the Terriers began a stretch with The Citadel playing 13 out of 18 games on the road.
sudden power surge at the plate
After hitting just three homers in the first 19 games of the season, The Citadel has now hit 14 home runs in their last 16 games, including a season-high four long balls at Georgia Southern on April 3 that included back-to-back-to-back homers by Nick Orvin, Brad Felder and Matt Simonelli.
In that span of the nine games, Orvin is tied for the team lead with four long balls. Felder has also hit four, including a pair of two-run bombs against College of Charleston on April 10. Freshman Tyler Griffin hit a grand slam at Wofford in the second game of a doubleheader on March 27 for his first career round-tripper. Justin Mackert homered twice the day before his 21st birthday on April 17 to give the Bulldogs an extra inning win at Furman. Simonelli, Drew DeKerlegand and William Ladd have also gone deep for the Bulldogs.
one-run agony in '11
The Citadel has felt their fair share of heartbreak in the 2011 season. The Bulldogs have gone through a stretch where six consecutive SoCon games were decided by just one run, going 1-5 in those contests.
On the season, The Citadel has played in 12 one-run games, going 2-10 in those contests. In total, 20 of their games this season have been decided by two runs or less with a record of 5-15 in those games. The Bulldogs are tied with William & Mary, Tulane, ECU and Creighton for the most one-run games played in Division I this season.
one of the smallest pitching staffs nationally
The Citadel has only 12 active pitchers on their roster after senior closer Drew Maffey was lost for the season which ranks among the least amount in Division I this season. The only teams with fewer pitchers are Coppin State (7), UMES (7), Farleigh Dickinson (8), Cleveland State (9), USC Upstate (10), Campbell (11) and Youngstown State (11). Marist, UIC and Southern Illinois also only have 12 pitchers on their active roster.
BULLPEN STEPPING UP
Several Bulldogs have stepped up this season in the bullpen. Junior RHP TJ Clarkson stepped in with the first two saves of his career after senior closer Drew Mahaffey went down. Clarkson got the save against No. 3 South Carolina when he entered with the bases loaded and no one out and preserved the shutout. Junior RHP Jeremy Long has been solid lately with an ERA of 2.45 in 15 appearances. Long set his career-high in innings pitched against No. 29 Coastal Carolina on March 23. Freshman lefty David Leeth saw limited action early in the season, but had his most impressive outing on April 10 when he kept the powerful College of Charleston offense scoreless for the remaining 4.0 innings of the game.
UP Next....
The Citadel concludes their five-game road trip on Wednesday when they face No. 27 Coastal Carolina in Conway at 6 p.m.
Live stats and twitter updated will be available both games and a recap and box score will follow the action on all new CitadelSports.com.
