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The Citadel Athletics

The Citadel Athletics | The Military College of South Carolina
JP Sears
Zach Bland

Baseball

Bulldogs Host Wofford to Complete Regular Season

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel baseball team wraps up the regular season at home against Wofford, May 18-20 at Joe Riley Park.

The Bulldogs (15-32, 6-15 SoCon) took one of three games at UNCG over the weekend, defeating the Spartans 5-2 on Friday. The team enters the week tied for eighth in the SoCon with ETSU and one game back of VMI for seventh place.

The Citadel holds tiebreakers over both ETSU and VMI with two wins against each. The teams who finish eighth and ninth in the regular season will play a single-elimination play-in game to open the SoCon tournament. The Bulldogs will need at least two wins over Wofford to avoid the tournament's play-in game.

Wofford (26-27, 11-10 SoCon) enters the week in fifth place in the conference after winning one of three games at home against Mercer.

The series begins on Thursday at 4 p.m. Friday's game will also begin at 4 p.m., followed by a 1 p.m. start on Saturday. The series finale on Saturday will also be the final home games for the careers of seniors Barrett Charpia and Beau Strickland and graduate students Aaron Lesiak, Marlin Morris and Joe Sabatini.

To purchase tickets, call The Citadel Athletic Ticket Office at 843-953-DOGS (3647) or visit CitadelSports.com/tickets. Live statistics and video will be available for the full series at CitadelSports.com.

Quick Hits
  • The Bulldogs own a 46-24 record overall against Wofford, including a 24-13 record when playing at Joe Riley Park.
  • The Bulldogs enter the week tied for eighth in the SoCon with ETSU and one game back of VMI for seventh place.
  • The Citadel holds tiebreakers over both ETSU and VMI with two wins against each. The teams who finish eighth and ninth in the regular season will play a single-elimination play-in game to open the SoCon tournament. The Bulldogs will need at least two wins over Wofford to avoid the tournament's play-in game.
  • Left-handed pitcher JP Sears continued his dominance this season, leading the Bulldogs to a 5-2 victory on Friday over UNCG.
  • Sears threw eight innings, allowing just two runs on four hits. He also struck out 11 batters, marking his sixth double-digit strikeout game of the year and 10th of his career.
  • It was also the second straight double-digit strikeout game for Sears as he was selected the SoCon Pitcher of the Week on May 8. The award was his third weekly award from the conference this season. He also earned one of Collegiate Baseball's National Player of the Week awards.
  • Sears is the first Bulldog player to receive a SoCon weekly award three times in a single season. He now has five Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week awards in his career.
  • Friday's start at UNCG continues an all-time great season for Sears who was named to the prestigious Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List by USA Baseball on April 12. 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 126, fourth in strikeouts per game with 13.03 and 23rd in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 6.30.
  • Sears is just the 13th pitcher to record 100 strikeouts in a season for The Citadel since 1965, with the last by James Reeves in 2015.
  • The left hander is now also fourth in the Bulldog record book in career strikeouts with 301. He passed current Bulldog pitching coach Britt Reames (295) and Mike Pendleton (298). Sears is nine strikeouts short of passing Asher Wojciechowski for third.
  • As a pitching staff, The Citadel ranks seventh in Division I and first in the SoCon with 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings.
  • Freshman Jeffery Brown made his first career start on May 5 against ETSU going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and the game-tying RBI. He started the final two games of the series, finishing 7-for-11 with five runs scored and three RBI to raise his season average to .455.
  • On May 7, Taylor Cothran hit the team's first grand slam of the year, which gave the Bulldogs an 8-7 lead in the eighth inning. The Citadel eventually fell 10-9 in 10 innings despite Cothran's heroics.
  • Jonathan Sabo had his third two-homer game of the season on May 5 against ETSU. He leads the team with 10 home runs and 31
  • runs batted in.
  • Ben Peden, who started the team's first 37 games, was injured April 23 against Mercer. He remains out indefinitely with Joe Sabatini and Bryce Leasure splitting time at first base in his absence.
  • William Kinney' extended his streak of consecutive starts to 118 games, dating back to 2015. His streak of starts at shortstop ended at 97 on April 29 at Furman when he was the starting designated hitter for the Bulldogs.
  • 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 then the second time the 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 Night 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 third 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.
  • 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.
 
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Players Mentioned

Cole Buffington

#14 Cole Buffington

C
6' 1"
Sophomore
R/R
Barrett Charpia

#5 Barrett Charpia

3B/OF
6' 1"
Senior
R/R
Taylor Cothran

#2 Taylor Cothran

OF
6' 0"
Sophomore
R/R
William Kinney

#18 William Kinney

SS
5' 11"
Junior
R/R
Ben Peden

#24 Ben Peden

1B
6' 0"
Sophomore
L/R
JP Sears

#7 JP Sears

LHP
5' 11"
Junior
L/L
Beau Strickland

#30 Beau Strickland

RHP
6' 3"
Senior
R/R
J.D. Davis

#13 J.D. Davis

2B
6' 2"
Freshman
R/R
Will Pillsbury

#3 Will Pillsbury

LHP
6' 2"
Freshman
L/L
Jonathan Sabo

#15 Jonathan Sabo

INF/RHP
5' 8"
Junior
R/R
Aaron Lesiak

#29 Aaron Lesiak

RHP
5' 10"
Graduate Student
R/R
Marlin Morris

#17 Marlin Morris

LHP
6' 2"
Graduate Student
L/L

Players Mentioned

Cole Buffington

#14 Cole Buffington

6' 1"
Sophomore
R/R
C
Barrett Charpia

#5 Barrett Charpia

6' 1"
Senior
R/R
3B/OF
Taylor Cothran

#2 Taylor Cothran

6' 0"
Sophomore
R/R
OF
William Kinney

#18 William Kinney

5' 11"
Junior
R/R
SS
Ben Peden

#24 Ben Peden

6' 0"
Sophomore
L/R
1B
JP Sears

#7 JP Sears

5' 11"
Junior
L/L
LHP
Beau Strickland

#30 Beau Strickland

6' 3"
Senior
R/R
RHP
J.D. Davis

#13 J.D. Davis

6' 2"
Freshman
R/R
2B
Will Pillsbury

#3 Will Pillsbury

6' 2"
Freshman
L/L
LHP
Jonathan Sabo

#15 Jonathan Sabo

5' 8"
Junior
R/R
INF/RHP
Aaron Lesiak

#29 Aaron Lesiak

5' 10"
Graduate Student
R/R
RHP
Marlin Morris

#17 Marlin Morris

6' 2"
Graduate Student
L/L
LHP

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