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CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel baseball team welcomes defending national champion Coastal Carolina on Tuesday to Joe Riley Park.

The Bulldogs (12-25, 3-9 SoCon) were swept over the weekend by Southern Conference leader Mercer despite being outscored by just four runs in the series. The Citadel kept all three games close as each was tied heading into the ninth inning.

Coastal Carolina (24-15-1, 11-5-1 Sun Belt) fell in two of three games at home to Georgia Southern over the weekend. The Chanticleers are in second place in the east division of the Sun Belt.

Tuesday's game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start. Live statistics and video will be available for the game at CitadelSports.com.

To purchase tickets, call The Citadel Athletic Ticket Office at 843-953-DOGS (3647) or visit CitadelSports.com/tickets.

Quick Hits

• The Citadel is 35-45 against reigning national champion Coastal Carolina. The Bulldogs are 19-19 all-time when hosting the Chanticleers.
• Coastal Carolina owns a two-game winning streak over The Citadel with the Bulldogs last win coming 3-2 in 2014.
• The Bulldogs lost all three games to Mercer by a combined four runs. Each of the three games were tied in the ninth inning with two finishing in extras.
• The starting pitching was dominant for The Citadel against Mercer. All three starters threw at least six innings, allowing three earned runs or less.
• Will Abbott pitched career-highs of 8.2 innings and nine strikeouts in the Bulldogs' 5-3 loss on Saturday.
• Making just his second start of 2017, Thomas Byelick looked sharp shutting out Mercer over six frames on Sunday.
• Taylor Cothran led the offense over the weekend with three-straight three-hit games. Cothran was moved to the leadoff spot on Sunday for the first time in his career, finishing 3-for-5 at the dish.
• The top of The Citadel lineup finished a combined 10-for-18 in the 8-5 victory over Charleston Southern on April 18. The 1-5 hitters scored and drove in all eight runs for the Bulldogs.
• The Citadel used eight different pitchers in the win over CSU, with seven relievers accounting for the final 8.1 innings of the game.
• On April 12, left-handed pitcher JP Sears was named to the prestigious Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List by USA Baseball. He is one of just 40 players across the country on the list and the only player from the Southern Conference.
• Sears enters the week ranked second in Division I in total strikeouts with 96 after punching out nine batters vs Mercer on Friday.
• He also ranks fourth in Division I in strikeouts per nine innings (13.71) and 22nd in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.40). Sears' 2.00 earned run average continues to lead the SoCon.
• As a pitching staff, The Citadel ranks sixth in Division I and first in the SoCon with 10.0 strikeouts per nine innings.
• William Kinney crushed his first home run of 2017 at Samford on Friday in the second inning and followed up with his second homer of the year on Saturday. He leads the team with nine doubles and is second with 21 RBI.
• Outfielder Clay Martin is tied for 42nd in Division I and second in the SoCon with 30 walks on the season.
• On April 6, Sears was awarded the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Month award for March after finishing 3-0 with a 1.43 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 37.2 innings pitched.
• The Bulldog southpaw was also selected the SoCon Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season and fourth time of his career on March 27. Sears struck out a career-high 20 batters at home against VMI in a two-hitter on March 24 to earn the award.
• Sears' performance against VMI ties him for the program record for strikeouts in a game and is tied for second all-time in the SoCon. 20 strikeouts is also the highest in a single game this season in Division I.
• Along with his 19 strikeout performance last year at VMI, Sears now has two of the top-six strikeout totals in SoCon history.
• Sears was also selected as one of Collegiate Baseball's National Players of the Week, March 24th's Pitcher of the Week by D1Baseball.com, College Sports Madness SoCon Player of the Week and was featured in USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award Gold Standard Performance of the Week poll.
• The Citadel offense exploded for a record 34 runs on Tuesday, Feb. 14 against Winthrop. The Bulldogs also set records for hits (34), RBIs (31), margin of victory (26) and at-bats (56).
• The 34 runs remain the highest single-game total in NCAA Division I this season, topping 32 runs scored by both McNeese and South Alabama.
• The offense had multiple players with career days against Winthrop as five Bulldogs recorded at least four hits, five finished with four or more RBIs and four more scored at least four runs.
• Barrett Charpia drove in nine RBI on a 5-for-8 day at the plate. The senior smacked two home runs, driving in the second most runs by a Bulldog in program history. Charpia's nine RBI are tied for the most in a single game in Division I this season.
• Charpia was selected the D1baseball.com Player of the Day and was one of four players nominated for the Golden Spikes Gold Standard Performance of the Week.
• Jonathan Sabo also finished 5-for-9 with two home runs against Winthrop. The junior transfer scored six runs and drove in five more.
• Sabo and Taylor Cothran each tied the program record with six runs scored apiece. The last time the feat was accomplished by a Bulldog was in 1998 by Jerry Simmons.
• William Kinney tied The Citadel record with four doubles in a six-hit ball game for the junior. The shortstop became the first Bulldog to hit four doubles in a game since Mark Mitchum did so in 1979. Kinney also posted career highs of six RBI and five runs scored.
• Cothran and J.D. Davis each posted their first career four-hit games against Winthrop. Ben Peden finished 3-for-6 with four runs scored and four RBI.
• Taylor Cothran and Cole Buffington each smacked their first career home runs at Western Carolina. Both home runs were of the solo variety. Buffington hit his on Friday, March 31 while Cothran crushed his first home run on Sunday, April 2.
• Jeffery Brown picked up his first career hit in the ninth inning against South Carolina on March 28, legging out an infield single.
• Will Pillsbury earned his first career win on March 26 vs VMI in a 4-2 victory. The freshman struck out five batters in 5.1 innings of work, allowing just two runs.
• Sears walked his first batter of the season against C of C on March 3 after beginning 2017 with 21 strikeouts in 13.2 innings before allowing his first free pass.
• Sears was selected the SoCon Pitcher of the Week for the first time this year on Feb. 27 after striking out 12 batters in a 4-0 victory over Delaware State.
• William Kinney extended his streak of consecutive starts to 108 games, dating back to 2015. He has started the last 95 straight games at shortstop for The Citadel.
• Kinney drew a walk-off walk in the bottom of the 10th inning on Saturday, March 18 against Dartmouth in an 8-7 victory. Kinney led the offense with a 3-for-5 day, two RBI, a run scored and a triple.
• The Bulldogs walked a season-high 13 times on Tuesday, March 1 in a 9-8 victory over Presbyterian College. It is the most walks in a single game for The Citadel since 2007.
• Barrett Charpia walked four times in the game, the most for a single Bulldog player since 2007 as well.
• Charpia hit a walk-off single on Feb. 25 against Delaware State in The Citadel's 6-5 victory.
• Relief pitcher Aaron Lesiak earned the win in relief against his former team on Feb. 27 vs Presbyterian.

For more information on The Citadel baseball follow @CitadelBaseball or visit CitadelSports.com.