Box Score Box Score
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Wofford College baseball team defeated The Citadel 8-4 in the opening round of the Southern Conference Tournament on Tuesday afternoon at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park in Charleston. Wofford advances to play Elon on Wednesday afternoon at 5:00 pm.
Wofford improves to 24-33 overall, while The Citadel wraps up the season 28-28 overall. The Terriers were led Sterling Dye and Shane Kirkley with three hits each, while Kirkley and Michael Gilmartin each had two run homers.
In the bottom of the first, the Bulldogs had three hits and scored two runs on a sacrifice fly by Chris McGuiness and a single by Matt Arnold. Shane Kirkley had the Terriers’ first hit of the game in the top of the second. In the bottom of the second, The Citadel loaded the bases, but were unable to score any runs and it remained a 2-0 lead.
Wofford added another hit in the top of the third with a single the dropped in center field by Sterling Dye. The bottom of the third included a 1:05 delay due to lightning. In the top of the fourth, Michael Gilmartin led off with a single to left field. Shane Kirkley then hit a bomb to center field that clear the wall to tie the game at 2-2.
The Citadel regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single from Bryan Altman. A groundout by Sonny Meade drove in another run for a 4-2 lead after four complete innings.
In the top of the fifth, Emre Caglayan led things off with a double to right center. Alex Lee successfully bunted and reached first. A single by Sterling Dye to left field dropped in and scored Caglayan. Michael Gilmartin then hit a fly ball to left center for the sacrifice to score Alex Lee for a 4-4 game in the middle of the fifth. The Citadel added a hit in the bottom of the fifth, but the game remained tied.
Neither team scored in the sixth inning before another lightning and rain delay. In the top of the seventh, Emre Caglayan led off with a single, then he stole second. Alex Lee added a single, which moved Caglayan to third with no outs. An error by the pitcher allowed Caglayan to score, but Lee was out caught stealing third. Sterling Dye then hit a single down the left line, then Kyle Behrendt added another single. Michael Gilmartin reached on an error to score Dye for a 6-4 lead at the seven inning stretch.
For The Citadel in the bottom of the seventh, Chip Hunt had three strikeouts, but one runner reached on a wild pitch. Ben Austin got the final out of the inning. The Terriers went three up and three down in the top of the eighth. The Citadel sent three batters to the plate in the bottom of the eighth for three outs.
Wofford opened the ninth with a single by Alex Lee. A bunt by Sterling Dye advanced Lee to second. With two outs, Michael Gilmartin launched a ball over the right field fence for an 8-4 lead. For the Bulldogs in the bottom of the ninth, the first two batters grounded out. Chris McGuiness walked, then Matt Arnold hit a double and Sid Fallow was hit by pitch to load the bases. However Ben Austin struck out the final batter for the win.
Wofford starter Scott Summers (7-7) went six innings with seven hits and four runs allowed with four strikeouts. Chip Hunt came in for the seventh inning and went two-thirds of an inning with one hit and three strikeouts. Ben Austin went 2.1 innings with one hit allowed and two strikeouts for his second save of the season.
For the Bulldogs, starter Wes Wrenn went six innings with six hits, four runs and three strikeouts. Raymond Copenhaver (1-3) lasted a third of an inning and gave up four hits and two runs. Matt Reifsnider threw 2.1 innings with three hits and two runs allowed with two strikeouts. Timmy Martin closed the game with one strikeout.
The game, which was scheduled to start at 3:30 pm, however due to the Western Carolina-Davidson game going twelve innings, the game began at 5:45 pm. Due to lightning in the area, a delay began at 6:28 pm in the bottom of the third and the game resumed at 7:33 pm. The second delay began at 8:25 pm and the game continued at 9:46 for a total of 2:26 delay in the game.
Shane Kirkley hit a home run in the fourth inning, giving him 50 for his career. He is tied for second all-time at Wofford with Justin Laughlin (1991-94) and one back of Bret Masters (1986-89). Keith Munns was hit by pitch twice, giving him 49 for his career, a school record.
With the win, Wofford advances out of the opening round for the second straight season. The Terriers will play at 5:00 pm on Wednesday afternoon against #1 seed Elon.
