CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Wofford College baseball team was defeated 4-3 by The Citadel on Saturday afternoon at Riley Park. Wofford tied the game at 3-3 with a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth. With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth, the Bulldogs had a single through the right side to secure the win.
Wofford is 26-12 overall, with a 4-4 record in the Southern Conference. The Citadel is 16-17 overall and 2-6 in the SoCon. The Terriers had seven hits in the game, including a solo home run by Mack Nathanson. The Citadel was led by Johnathan Stokes with two hits and a pair of RBIs.
Alec Paradowski led off the game with a single. After a fielder's choice, a fly ball and strikeout ended the top half of the first. The Bulldogs were retired in order in the bottom of the first inning. With two out in the top of the second, Mack Nathanson hit his fourth home run of the season over the fence in left center for a 1-0 lead.
The Citadel opened the bottom of the second with a single, but a double play erased the runner. They added another single, however the runner was stranded. Wofford was retired in order in the top of the third. In the bottom of the third inning, the Bulldogs led off with a single and the runner moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. After a walk, a single by Johnathan Stokes drove in a run to tie the game at 1-1. With two down, a foul out ended the third inning with two runners stranded.
Both teams were retired in order in the fourth inning. Max McDougald ended a stretch of nine straight Wofford batters retired with a single in the top of the fifth inning. Derek Hirsch added a walk, but the Terriers left both runners on base. The Bulldogs had a single in the bottom of the fifth before a strikeout ended the inning.
Matt Ramsay led off the sixth inning with a double to left center field. James Plaisted followed with a single to give Wofford runners on the corners. A single back at the pitcher by Conor Clancey drove in Ramsay for a 2-1 lead. After a sacrifice bunt advanced the runners, but a two fly balls ended the inning with both runners left in scoring position. The Bulldogs left one runner on base after a walk in the bottom of the sixth.
With one out in the top of the seventh, Derek Hirsch walked. Alec Paradowski reached on a fielder's choice and Hirsch was safe at second on an error. A double steal put the runners in scoring position, but a foul out ended the scoring chance. The Bulldogs tied the game on a solo home run by William McKinney, as the ball went off James Plaisted's glove and over the fence for a 2-2 score. A double with one out by Clay Martin was followed by a two out single up the middle by Johnathan Stokes to give The Citadel a 3-2 advantage at the end of the seventh inning.
The Terriers were retired in order in the top of the eighth inning. The Bulldogs led off the bottom of the eighth with a walk. With two outs, another runner reached on a walk before a fly ball stranded both runners. Carson Waln hit a single up the middle with one out in the top of the ninth. Waln stole second and Derek Hirsch was hit by a pitch. A double steal put the runners in scoring position. A sacrifice fly by Alec Paradowski tied the game at 3-3, but the go-ahead run was thrown out at the plate on the play.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Bulldogs led off with a single. A hit by pitch and walk loaded the bases with one out. A single through the right side by Connor Walsh drove in the winning run for a 4-3 final score.
Wofford starting pitcher Luke Leftwich threw 6.2 innings and allowed three runs on six hits. He walked two batters and struck out eight. Connor Foltyn struck out one batter. Spencer Kulman (5-2) gave up one run on a hit with one strikeout. Will Stillman recorded one out and a hit.
J.P. Sears started for The Citadel and went 5.1 innings with two runs allowed on six hits. He struck out eight batters and walked one. Zach Sherrill faced two batters for two outs. Skylar Hunter (2-4) earned the win by going three innings with one run allowed on one hit and a strikeout.
The two teams will complete the weekend series on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at Riley Park, which also ends a nine-game road trip for the Terriers. Wofford will return home on Wednesday to face USC Upstate.
