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CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel baseball team will host UNCG beginning on Friday for the first home Southern Conference series of the season.
 
The Bulldogs are currently third in the conference with a 2-1 SoCon record after taking the series with VMI. UNCG is in first with three wins in SoCon play.
 
The Citadel was 2-2 against UNCG last season with the last matchup coming in the SoCon tournament where the Bulldogs came out on top with an 8-4 victory.
 
This weekend will also mark the 20th season in Joe Riley Park with The Citadel's first game taking place on April 6, 1997.
 
Game times are set for 4 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday inside Joe Riley Park. Live stats will be available at CitadelSports.com for the game. For tickets, call 843-953-DOGS (3647) or visit CitadelSports.com/tickets.
 
Notes:
• After defeating Charleston Southern just a week earlier, The Bulldogs dropped the midweek matchup at CSU on Tuesday to split the season series.
• Taylor Cothran made his first start this season and Justin Craft made the first appearance of his career on Tuesday against Charleston Southern. Cole Buffington and Barrett Charpia made just their second starts of the season and Morgan Foulks pitched a career-high 2.2 innings against the Buccaneers in the midweek tilt.
• The first RPI Ranking of the season was released April 5 and The Citadel has faced four opponents so far this season that rank in the top 20.
• The Citadel was 2-2 against UNCG last season with the last matchup coming in the Southern Conference Tournament where the Bulldogs took an 8-4 victory. 
• Thomas Byelick got the start on the mound for the Bulldogs in the 8-4 victory, pitching 3.1 innings and fanning five.
• Jacob Watcher was three-for-three in the contest with two runs scored and two RBI and Steven Hansen also finished with a hit and a run scored.
• The Citadel also turned just the fifth triple play in school history against the Spartans on May 21, 2015, when Thomas Byelick got the batter swinging and both runners were caught stealing. It was the second triple play in as many years for the Bulldogs.
• 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.
• Head coach Fred Jordan is the only Citadel skipper to have ever coached at Joe Riley and has amassed a 423-236 (.642) record during his 20 seasons there.
• Including this season, The Citadel has played 659 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.
• Clay Martin leads the team with a .273 batting average and a .418 slugging percentage while senior Mike Deese leads the team with 19 runs scored and 26 hits. Deese, who played in 39 games last season, has already eclipsed all of his season totals from the 2015 season.
• The Citadel smacked five home runs in the series victory over VMI, the most homers in a series this season.
• Mike Deese hit two home runs in back-to-back innings in the series-opening win over VMI, marking the first time since May 12, 2015, when Steven Hansen hit two, that a Bulldog belted two homers in a game.
• William Kinney went four-for-five on March 25, marking the first four-hit game for a Bulldog this season. Three of those hits were doubles for the sophomore, a feat that had not been accomplished since April 9, 2011, by Nick Orvin.
• The Citadel pitching staff ranks third in the conference with a 5.10 ERA and fourth in the SoCon with a combined opponent batting average of .279.
• Friday and Saturday starters JP Sears (2.53) and Thomas Byelick (3.56) rank third and sixth in ERA in the Southern Conference. The duo also ranks third and sixth in runs allowed with Sears giving up 13 and Byelick 19.
• Jacob Watcher and JP Sears are tied for third in the conference with four wins each.
• The Bulldogs have recorded nine double-digit strikeout games in 2016.
• JP Sears ranks first in the Southern Conference with 19 batters struck out looking, and his total strikeouts of 54 rank second in the SoCon. The lefty is 4-2 this year.
 
For more information on The Citadel baseball, follow @CitadelBaseball or visit CitadelSports.com.