CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Drew Ellis had four hits, homered twice and drove in five runs, but it was a solo shot by Austin Atwell in the fifth that gave Western Carolina the tiebreaking run in an eventual 12-9 victory over The Citadel to complete a three-game Southern Conference sweep.

The Catamounts (12-12, 4-2 SoCon) won their fifth-straight series against The Citadel and have not dropped a series to the Bulldogs in Cullowhee since 2002. The Bulldogs lost their fifth in a row and fell to 14-12 and 0-3 in the conference.

Western erased an early 4-0 deficit with eight runs in the bottom of the third, its second such inning in as many days, with Danny Bermudez providing the big hit with a three-run homer. But The Citadel rebounded with four runs in the fifth, including a three-run homer to right by Ellis, to create an 8-8 deadlock.

Closer Skylar Hunter, who did not pitch in the first two games of the series, was called upon to cool off the Catamount bats, but he was reached by Atwell for a one-out solo homer in the bottom of the fifth to give Western the lead for good. The Catamounts added three more runs off Hunter in the seventh, including RBI singles by Brett Pope and Bradley Strong.

Ellis turned in the first two-homer game for a Bulldog since Mason Davis did so against UNCG on May 16, 2013. His two-run shot over the batter's eye in dead center in the second was followed by an RBI single by Jacob Watcher that gave The Citadel an early 3-0 advantage. Consecutive doubles by Austin Mapes and Connor Walsh leading off the fourth made it a 4-0 game.

Ellis also singled in the seventh and doubled and scored in the ninth for the first four-hit game of the freshman first baseman's young career. He leads the Bulldogs with five home runs and moved into second place on the club with 20 RBI.

Walsh finished with three hits including his 11th and 12th doubles of the season and now has a team-leading 30 RBI on the year.

Catamount closer Tyler Powell came in after the Bulldogs scored their four runs in the fifth, and prevented an even bigger inning by getting Jacob Watcher to ground into a double play to keep it tied. Powell went the rest of the way, limiting The Citadel to one run and struck out four to pick up the win.

The Bulldogs return to Riley Park to face South Carolina on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the first of their annual home-and-home series with the Gamecocks. The Citadel gets its first SoCon home test of the year beginning Thursday at 6 p.m. against league-leading Mercer and continuing Friday at 5 and Saturday at 1.