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

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel baseball team will begin Southern Conference Tournament play Tuesday in Greenville, South Carolina, against VMI.
 
The Bulldogs took two of the three from the Keydets March 25-27 in Lexington, Virginia, highlighted by sophomore left-hander JP Sears' 19 K performance which still ranks first in the nation for most strikeouts in a single game. The total is also second in school history behind only Rodney Hancock who fanned 20 against Furman in 1999.
 
VMI comes into the tournament with a 21-34 record and a 4-20 mark in conference play. The Keydets will throw Josh Winder on Tuesday. The righty, who took the loss on March 27 when the Bulldogs clinched the series with a 4-2 win, has a 5.08 ERA and a 4-4 record this season.
 
Sears will get the start on the mound against the Keydets. First pitch from Fluor Field is set for 10 a.m. Tuesday morning with live stats, video and audio available on CitadelSports.com.
 
Notes:
• Last season The Citadel entered the SoCon Tournament with a 25-28 record and a 10-14 record in conference action. The Bulldogs beat ETSU 8-2 in the play-in game, lost to top-seeded Mercer 3-2 and then defeated UNCG and VMI to make it to the semifinals of the tournament before losing to eventual tournament champion Mercer.
• In 28 appearances in the Southern Conference Tournament, The Citadel holds a 72-37 record.
• Of the Bulldogs' eight Southern Conference Tournament titles, all of them have come when playing at College Park or Joe Riley Park in Charleston. The Citadel was the No. 1 seed four of the eight times. The lowest-seeded Bulldogs' team to win the title was in 1994 as a five seed.
• The Citadel is tied with Western Carolina for a league-leading 13 regular-season championships. Furman is next on the list with four titles.
• The Citadel is the most recent team from the SoCon to make it to the College World Series and one of only four teams from the conference to make it to Omaha. The Bulldogs' 1990 squad finished the season ranked sixth in the nation with a 46-14 record.
• The Citadel has been involved in each of the top-10 highest-attended games in SoCon Tournament history, with the largest crowd of 5,419 coming in 2003 against College of Charleston at Joe Riley Park.
• The Citadel first baseman Ben Peden was selected to the All-Southern Conference Freshman Team on Monday morning. Peden finished the regular season with a .241 batting average, 21 RBI and eight home runs. He is the 11th Bulldog to receive the honor.
• The Bulldogs wrapped up their regular season at ETSU on Sunday, dropping the season finale 10-6.
• Senior Bret Hines finished the week batting a sizzling .562, tallying nine hits in 16 at-bats at No. 10 South Carolina and ETSU. Hines finished with three runs scored, a .588 on-base percentage and .625 slugging percentage. Hines also collected his 100th career hit May 19, joining fellow senior Stephen Windham who recorded his 100th base-knock May 11 against Winthrop.
• In his first three career at-bats against ETSU dating back to last season, Mike Deese went two-for-three with two home runs.
• Freshman Johnny Croley had two strong outings on the mound last week, fanning a career-high four batters against the Gamecocks on May 17 and tossing a career-best 3.2 innings at ETSU May 19.
• With one this past weekend at ETSU, the Bulldogs have now had 15 one-run games this season.
• Stephen Windham threw out two runners trying to steal in Saturday's game, running his season total up to 25 this year and ranking second-best in the conference.
• William Kinney has played every inning of the 2016 season.
• The Citadel's bats have caught fire in the month of May, tallying seven double-digit hit games in the 12 games during the month. The Bulldogs have recorded 18 double-digit hit games this season, most recently knocking 10 hits in the series finale at ETSU May 21.
• Three Bulldogs finished conference play hitting over .300 with Bret Hines leading the way with a .318 batting average. Senior Jason Smith is close behind with a .317 average, tallying 19 hits, and Clay Martin is sitting at the .304 mark with 21 hits and 11 RBI. Ben Peden leads the team with a .566 slugging percentage in SoCon action.
• Ben Peden hit two home runs against Samford May 14, marking the third time this year that a Bulldog has recorded two home runs in a single game.
• Shy Phillips recorded his first career triple against Samford May 13, lacing a two-out line drive down the right field line to plate two.
• Steven Hansen hit his first home run of the season May 15, giving him six for his career.
• Jason Smith tallied his second career triple May 15 against Samford, marking the eighth triple of the year for The Citadel.
• Seniors Bret Hines, Stephen Windham and Mike Deese have all recorded 13 multiple-hit games this season to lead the team. Windham also leads the team with seven multiple-RBI games.
• The Citadel hit five home runs in the series at ETSU, tying the previous season-high five they launched in the series at VMI March 25-27 and at Mercer May 5-8.
• The 35 hits the Bulldogs collected at Mercer May 5-8 matched a series high The Citadel previously set April 15-17 at Wofford.
• Every starter tallied a hit on May 8 at Mercer for the first time since February 26 against Siena.
• The Citadel pitching staff has allowed the second fewest home runs in the Southern Conference this season with 42 and ranks sixth in opposing batting average (.298) and batters struck out (401).
• Jordan Buster made his first career start on the mound for the Bulldogs May 21 at ETSU, matching his career high of 2.2 innings pitched, striking out two and allowing four hits.
• Kyle Smith pitched at least one inning in every game against Samford May 13-15, marking the second time this season that the sophomore has thrown in every game of a series with the first time coming against Furman April 30-May 1.
• Zach Lavery and Kyle Smith have a combined 31 appearances in the 24 SoCon games this season.
• On May 5 at Mercer, The Citadel pitching staff held the nation's home run leaders to just seven hits, allowing the Bulldogs to outhit the Bears 35-28 over the course of the series.
• Zach Lavery started his first career game on the mound for the Bulldogs May 11 against Winthrop. Lavery is now tied for 8th in all-time appearances in school history with 95.
 
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