Game Notes | Overall Stats | Live Stats | Video | Audio

CHARLESTON, S.C. – After two nonconference midweek games, The Citadel baseball team will host Western Carolina for a three-game Southern Conference series inside Joe Riley Park beginning on Friday.
 
The Bulldogs are coming off of two tough midweek losses to Georgia Southern, playing a home-and-home series with the Eagles. In game one, Jason Smith hit his first home run of the season and Stephen Windham blasted his second of the year but those were the only runs the Bulldogs were able to push across the plate.
 
The Citadel dropped game two 7-5 after its four-run rally fell just short. With 10 total strikeouts in the second game of the series against the Eagles, the Bulldogs have now recorded 10 double-digit strikeout games this season and rank fourth in the conference with a 5.91 ERA.
 
Western Carolina is currently 20-10 overall and 10-2 in the SoCon.
 
Friday's game is set for 4 p.m., followed by a 2 p.m. contest on Saturday and a 1 p.m. start time on Sunday. Live stats, video and audio will be available at CitadelSports.com for all three games. For tickets, call 843-953-DOGS (3647) or visit CitadelSports.com/tickets.

Notes:
• Jason Smith hit just the second home run of his career against Georgia Southern on Tuesday, blasting a leadoff home run to center field to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
• Stephen Windham also hit a home run against the Eagles, sending his second homer of the year over the left center field wall. The senior also collected a hit on Wednesday to extend his reached base safely streak to 16 games. Windham is also on a six-game hitting streak.
• Freshman Morgan Foulks pitched a career-long 3.1 innings on Wednesday against Georgia Southern, striking out two and allowing four hits.
• Freshman Alex Bialakis made his first relief appearance on the mound Wednesday against Georgia Southern, tossing 1.0 innings and striking out two while not surrendering a hit. The freshman started in his three previous outings on the bump.
• 16 total pitchers were used in the four-hour game on Wednesday night, the most in a game since March 6 against College of Charleston when 17 hurlers saw action.
• Western Carolina took the three-game series between the two schools last year in Cullowhee. The Citadel holds a 21-11 all-time advantage over the Catamounts inside Joe Riley Park.
• The Catamounts were picked to finish fourth in both the coaches and media preseason polls.
• The Citadel and Western Carolina are tied for a league-leading 13 regular-season championships.
• 2016 marks the 20th year of The Citadel playing along the banks of the Ashley River at Joseph P. Riley Park.
• The first game at the Joe came on April 6, 1997, against Western Carolina and the first pitch was fouled into the marsh. The Bulldogs eventually went on to win the game thanks to a walkoff home run by Ryan Butler.
• Head coach Fred Jordan is the only Citadel skipper to have ever coached at Joe Riley and has amassed a 424-239 (.642) record during his 20 seasons there.
• Including this season, The Citadel has played 663 games at the Joe.
• The largest crowd to ever take in a Citadel game was on April 16, 2014, when the Bulldogs hosted South Carolina in front of 6,500 fans. Earlier this season, 6,298 fans were in attendance for The Citadel's game against the Gamecocks on March 1.
• The Bulldogs recorded their second double-digit-hit game in as many days on April 17 and outhit Wofford 14-13.
• Bret Hines, Mike Deese, Stephen Windham and Jason Smith all had at least one hit in every game of the three-game series at Wofford.
• Ben Peden blasted the third home run of his career at Wofford on Friday night to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead.
• Steven Hansen tallied his first two doubles of the season, smacking two against Wofford on Saturday to plate two runs. The senior finished the day three-for-four.
• Bret Hines had a productive outing at the dish over the weekend, going 5-for-12 with three RBI and two runs scored.
• Shy Phillips also had a strong outing for the 'Dogs at the plate. The sophomore tallied four hits, including three on Sunday, in the three-game series and scored twice runs and plated two RBI.
• The Citadel continues to do its damage in the latter half of the game, scoring 84 of its 157 runs after the 5th inning.
• Mike Deese leads the team with nine multiple-hit games this season. The next closest is Stephen Windham with six.
• The Citadel pitching staff ranks fourth in the Southern Conference in ERA (5.91), opposing batting average (.292) and strikeouts (305).
 
For more information on The Citadel baseball, follow @CitadelBaseball or visit CitadelSports.com.