CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel baseball team dropped its first game of the season, falling 6-1 to Villanova Saturday afternoon inside Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.
 
Game Information
Score: Villanova 6, The Citadel 1
Records: The Citadel (5-1), Villanova (1-4)
Location: Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park (Charleston, South Carolina)
Series: Series tied 1-1
 
How it Happened

• The Bulldogs got on the board first as Sawyer Reeves drew a walk to start the third inning. Travis Lott followed with a base hit to left center and both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt from Dylan Costa.
• The Wildcats answered back with three runs in the fourth inning on run-scoring hits from Matt Pinone, Pat O'Neill and Joey Castellanos.
• VU added a run in the sixth inning on a base hit off the bat of Chris Rotondo.
• The Wildcats closed out the scoring with two runs in the ninth inning on an infield single and throwing error.

 
Inside the Box Score

• The Bulldogs pitching staff struck out 13 hitters on the day.
• Fisher Paulsen (0-1) took the loss after allowing three runs on three hits and three strikeouts over 3.2 innings.
• Chace Cooper tossed 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit.
• Simon Graf struck out six in his 2.2 innings of work.
• Dylan Costa drove in the only run of the game with a groundout.
• Costa also made a diving play in the hole at second to end a scoring threat for the Wildcats.
• Cole Patten (1-1) tossed 8.0 innings, allowing one run on two hits and six strikeouts to pick up the victory.

 
On Deck
The teams play the rubber game of the three-game series Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.