CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Citadel Bulldogs open their 2017 Fall World Series on Friday at Joe Riley Park. The three-game series opens at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, followed by a morning affair on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and the final game on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. All three games will be played and are open to the public.

FALL WORLD SERIES ROSTER 
 
Teams are divided into the Columbia (light blue) and Navy squads and will be coached by Bulldog assistants Aaron Gershenfeld and Blake Cooper.
 
The series is a reward for the Bulldogs following a new, challenging, and transitional fall under first-year head coach Tony Skole. With a new head coach and a large number of new faces on the roster, the Bulldogs were starting anew. Skole acknowledges it was a frustrating start the first few weeks, but pleased with the progress and improvement he's seen almost daily.
 
"I want to see our guys compete and have some fun," Skole said on Thursday. "This is something that is for them. I let our assistant coaches run it, I try to sit back and evaluate. It will be great to see them in a game situation. I'm excited to see them perform and excited to see them playunder the lights."
 
Starting pitchers are set for the series, but the entire staff will make an appearance at some point.
 
"There are some scripts that we have in place to evaluate, specifically, our pitching," Skole said of the series. "Each pitcher will pitch, but for the most part I'll leave it up to each coach to run their team. Our strength right now is our defense and our pitching staff. Coach Cooper has done a tremendous job with our pitching staff. These guys have bought into his system and worked extremely hard. I really like our arm talent at the top of our staff."
 
Skole also talked about his options behind the plate and a strong left side of the infield. The catchers continue to develop in Bryce Leasure and Cole Buffington, a duo that combined to catch every game last season.
 
"Both catchers, Cole Buffington and Bryce Leasure, they have had an excellent fall from a defensive standpoint and they are getting better each day," Skole added. "Offensively, Will Kenny at short and Jonathan Sabo at third base. I think that is as good as a left side combo as there is in the conference. They have played a lot of baseball."
 
The Bulldogs' outfield has started to take shape as well. Seniors Clay Martin and Taylor Cothran, along with sophomore Jeff Brown have separated themselves. Cothran and Martin have developed into more complete hitters, while Brown is the speed threat that will land near the top of the lineup.  
 
"In the outfield, I feel confident in Jeff Brown, Clay Martin, and Taylor Cochran," Sakole said. "They have developed and improved significantly over the past five weeks. They are very dynamic group, which will be good for our lineup."
 
While the season is still four months away, Skole already feels like that tempo and culture in practice and game situations is headed where he wants it.
 
"When we started, we weren't very good at practicing full speed, it took us a few weeks to finally get to that point," Skole said. "This week our practices have been phenomenal. Our technique has been good and we've been communicating well. It's very encouraging and hopefully we will continue to do that."

-CitadelSports-