Mount Pleasant, S.C. – Brandon Murray and Brandon Glazer hit back-to-back home runs in a five-run College of Charleston fifth, breaking open a close game and sending the Cougars on their way to an 11-5 victory over The Citadel to even the weekend series.
The rubber game will take place Monday at 6 p.m. at Riley Park with junior left hander Kevin Connell on the mound for the Bulldogs and freshman righty Bailey Ober taking the hill for the Cougars.
The Citadel (7-8) scored its first run of the game in the top of the fifth on a single by Ryan Kilgallen and a pair of errors to pull within 2-1 before the fateful bottom of the frame. College of Charleston (11-3) loaded the bases with two outs on an error, bunt single and walk off Bulldog starter James Reeves.
Murray followed with a grand slam to right center, and Glazer took the next offering from Reeves over the short fence in left to make it 7-1. All five Cougar runs in the inning were unearned but enough to hand Reeves his first loss of the season after wins over Virginia Tech and Nebraska.
Two-run singles by College of Charleston's Gunnar Heidt in the sixth and The Citadel's Tyler Griffin in the seventh kept it a six-run margin. The hit was Griffin's fifth of the series, and he has also driven in five runs.
After the Cougars boosted their lead to 11-3 in the eighth, the Bulldogs tacked on a pair in the ninth on an RBI single by Hughston Armstrong and sacrifice fly by Bo Thompson. Thompson now has a team-leading 15 RBI in 15 games on the year.
Taylor Clarke threw 6 1/3 solid innings for College of Charleston, allowing seven hits and two runs (one earned) while striking out six to win his third game of the season. The Bulldogs outhit the Cougars, 12-9, including three by Mason Davis and Drew DeKerlegand, but left 10 runners on base.
Davis, who returned to the lineup after sitting out the first game of his career in Saturday's 5-4, 11-inning Bulldog win, added his 11th stolen base of the year. The junior second baseman entered the week leading the nation in thefts.
