‘Dogs Pitch Way to Season-Opening Victory

Friday, February 14

Charleston, S.C.

4 p.m.

The Citadel

1-0

Coppin State

0-1

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Coppin State	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	2
The Citadel	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	X	5	9	1

‘Dogs Pitch Way to Season-Opening Victory

2/14/2020 7:41:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (.pdf)

CHARLESTON, SC. – The Citadel left hander Shane Connolly struck out a career-high eight over seven innings to lead the Bulldogs to a 5-1 victory over Coppin State in the season opener Friday afternoon at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

Game Information
Score: The Citadel 5, Coppin State 1
Records: The Citadel (1-0), Coppin State (0-1)
Series: The Citadel leads 1-0
Location: Charleston, South Carolina (Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park)

Key Plays

The Bulldogs played fundamental baseball early in the game as Ryan McCarthy and Ches Goodman each delivered RBI groundouts.
Shane Connolly got a popup with one out and runners on the corners in the sixth inning. He followed it up by getting a lineout to short with the bases loaded to end the inning.
McCarthy came up big again in the seventh with a RBI double to extend the Bulldog lead.

How it Happened

Jeffery Brown started the season by taking an 0-2 pitch into the gap in left center for a leadoff triple.
Two batters later, Ryan McCarthy hit a chopper to the left side that scored Brown from third.
In the third, Tyler Corbitt drew a leadoff walk and went to third when McCarthy lined a single to right field. Ches Goodman drove in Corbitt with a groundout to second.
The Eagles got on the board in the fourth inning after a walk came around to score on a Justin Banks double to left center. Banks was thrown out trying to advance to third on the play at the plate.
The Eagles threatened in the sixth inning as they put runners on the corners with one out. Connolly got the next hitter to hit a popup on the infield for the second out.
After a walk loaded the bases, Connolly got out of the inning with a lineout to shortstop.
The Bulldogs added an insurance run in the seventh inning as Brown singled to center and stole second on the next pitch.
McCarthy drove in Brown with a two-out double into the corner in right field.
The Citadel pushed two more runs across in the eighth inning when Cole Simpson was hit by a pitch. Pinch runner Lane Botkin went to second when Travis Lott blooped a single into shallow left field.
Botkin then stole third and scored when the throw went into left field.
A sacrifice bunt from Cam Jensen moved Lott to third and Tilo Skole followed with a suicide squeeze that turned into a RBI base hit.

Inside the Boxscore

Shane Connolly (1-0) got off to a strong start as he struck out a career-high eight batters over 7.0 innings. He allowed just one run on four hits.
Last season, Connolly allowed just three hits in a complete-game shutout over Delaware State in his first start.
Right hander Devin Beckley pitched the eighth inning and struck out all three hitters he faced.
Gant Starling made his collegiate debut in the ninth, striking out a pair.
As a team, the Bulldog pitching staff struck out 13 hitters, including seven of the last nine outs.
Ryan McCarthy led the offense by going 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.
Jeffery Brown and Tilo Skole each added two hits. Brown scored a pair of runs and Skole drove in a run.
Freshman Travis Lott and Crosby Jones each collected their first collegiate hits.
Lott threw out each of the first two potential base stealers early in the game.