ATLANTA, Ga. -- Headlined by a walk-off two-RBI single from
Zach Hunt to cap a do-or-die 10th-inning rally, third-seeded The Citadel (36-25) orchestrated a late come-from-behind victory over No. 4 UIC (27-29-1) in the opening elimination clash of the NCAA Baseball Championship's Atlanta Regional, dispatching the Flames via a 9-8 final decision Saturday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Victory in hand, the Bulldogs await the loser between regional host and No. 2 national seed Georgia Tech and No. 2 Oklahoma in a second elimination contest early Sunday afternoon, with first pitch slated for 1 p.m.
"That was a great college baseball game, not perfect, but both teams competed their hearts out and neither team wanted their seasons to end, you could tell that," head coach
Russell Triplett said. "There were a lot of good baseball plays from both teams, especially in the later innings. I thought we played high-level defense throughout the day and got some big outs from our bullpen. This is a big win for our program because UIC wasn't going to go away. We were going to have to find a way to win the game and, give our guys credit, they found a way."
Offensively, Hunt and
Sam Dansky set the tone for the Bulldogs with a combined five hits on the day, notably launching back-to-back home runs -- game-tying and go-ahead solo shots, respectively -- to spark a five-spot surge for The Citadel in the seventh frame.
Lane Tobin also generated a pair of hits, including a key RBI triple, while
Michael Gibson tallied a hit with an RBI as well.
Of particular note, two no-doubters from Hunt and Dansky serve as the first back-to-back homers for The Citadel since Gibson and Hunt blasted a pair in, coincidentally, the seventh inning of a 10-3 victory at Georgia Southern on April 22. Further, the Hunt walk-off single acts as the first for the program since a
Jayden Williams RBI single run-ruled rival VMI in the Southern Conference Championship opening round on May 20, and the first true walk-off since
TJ Anderson walked off Western Carolina with an RBI single of his own on March 27.
"He had been missing low, so I really wasn't sitting on any particular pitch," Hunt said of the walk-off hit. "I was just waiting on a good pitch I could drive and I was able to made good contact."
On the mound,
Will Holmes compiled a competitive start over 4.1 innings of work, racking up eight strikeouts while surrendering two runs -- both earned -- on just one hit and six walks.
Zane Davis took over for 1.0 frame, giving up one run on a single hit, before Gibson stepped in for the final 4.2 innings en route to his fifth win on the year, allowing five runs on seven hits while setting down another eight batters on strikes.
For Holmes, the eight punchouts elevated the graduate student to 120 strikeouts on the season, surpassing pitching coach
James Reeves' personal best of 115 from the 2015 campaign and moving up to 11th on the all-time single-season strikeout list in program history. Holmes now sits just three short of Britt Reames (1995) and Rodney Hancock (1999), who currently slot in at a tie for ninth with 123 for their respective seasons.
For the Flames, Ashton Kampa posted a 3-for-5 performance at the plate, including a two-run homer in the eighth and a go-ahead solo blast in the 10th. On the bump, Jake Jakubowski suffered the loss after facing three batters in the 10th, giving up two walks, sacrifice bunt and the Hunt two-RBI walk-off single. Brandon Bak put together 6.0 frames as the UIC starter, surrendering just four runs, including three earned, on six hits with a pair of strikeouts.
Historically, the win for The Citadel serves as the program's first NCAA tournament victory since the opening round of the 2010 Columbia Regional when the Bulldogs topped Virginia Tech behind a 7-2 mark.
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