CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel Bulldogs open a three-game home-and-home-and-home with crosstown foe Charleston Southern on Friday night at Joe Riley Park. First pitch of the series opener is set for 6 p.m.
 
THE CITADEL (3-4) VS. CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (4-5)
Pitching Matchups
 
Friday, March 2 – Joe Riley Park – 6 p.m. - Live Stats - Live Video
RHP Dylan Spence (0-0, 2.77 ERA, 13.0 IP) vs. RHP Nik Constantakos (1-1, 4.09 ERA)
 
Saturday, March 3 –CSU Ballpark – 3 p.m.
RHP Jordan Merritt (0-0, 8.44 ERA) vs. RHP Ryan Stoudamire (0-2, 10.12 ERA)
 
Sunday March 4 – Joe Riley Park - 1 p.m. - Live Stats - Live Video
RHP Alex Bialakis (1-0, 2.35 ERA, 7 IP) vs. RHP Tyler Weekley (1-1, 1.64 ERA)
 
Both teams enter the weekend a game below .500 and look to get weekend rotations established with conference play rapidly approaching later this month. The teams will meet four times this year, with the final meeting coming at CSU Ballpark on April 17.
 
The Bulldogs will try to build on a series win against La Salle last weekend. The Citadel rallied twice for wins on the weekend, including a 15-inning affair on Friday night that came up an inning short of the school record for the longest game (most recently, 16 inn. vs. Miami in '79).  

Sunday starter Alex Bialakis (1-0, 2.35 ERA, 7 IP) has been sharp in his last three appearances and earned a weekend start with a pair of scoreless innings against Georgia Southern on Tuesday. He notched a win and a second scoreless appearance in last weekend's series with La Salle.

Offensively, Head Coach Tony Skole is hoping senior Will Kinney's current pace becomes contagious throughout his lineup. Kinney had a Citadel season-best four hits on Tuesday night against La Salle on Sunday and was 3-for-5 against GS on Tuesday night. Kinney batting .452, fourth-best in the SoCon and has 14 hits in seven games, almost a third of his total from his junior year when he had 47 in 51 games. Kinney is one of four Bulldogs with an average about .300.

The weekend begins a busy stretch for the Bulldogs. The Citadel hosts Georgia (4 p.m.) on Tuesday afternoon at Riley Park then travels to Winthrop on Wednesday. In all, the Bulldogs play 13 games in the next 17 days.

CSU picked up a 4-2 win at South Carolina on Sunday behind a strong outing from starter Tyler Weekley. The Bucs moved to .500 on Tuesday with a 6-5 win over Savannah State, but fell 14-3 to Charlotte on Wednesday.

-CitadelSports-