SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College baseball team scored twice with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to win 10-9 over The Citadel at Russell C. King Field on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs took an early lead, but the Terriers answered with five runs in the third inning. In the top of the seventh, The Citadel tied the game at 8 and took a 9-8 lead in the top of the eighth.
Derek Hirsch drove in two runs on an infield single in the bottom of the ninth for the lead.
Wofford is 20-17 overall and 4-7 in the Southern Conference. The Citadel is 13-22 overall and 3-5 in league play. The Terriers have earned a series win against the Bulldogs for the third straight season. Wofford was led by
Derek Hirsch with four hits and two RBIs, while
Brett Hash had three hits and four RBIs. Steven Hansen and Bret Hines each had three hits for the Bulldogs.
The Citadel opened the game with back-to-back walks. After a pair of strikeouts another walk loaded the bases. A hit by pitch and back-to-back walks made it a 3-0 game before a line out ended the top half.
Alec Paradowski walked to begin the Wofford half of the first.
Derek Hirsch reached on a bunt and an error moved the runners into scoring position. A double to right center by
Brett Hash with one out scored both for a 3-2 score.
In the second inning, the Bulldogs were retired in order and the Terriers left one on base after a walk. With two outs in the top of the third, The Citadel had back-to-back doubles to make it a 4-2 game.
Derek Hirsch led off the bottom of the third with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. A one-out single by
Brett Hash through the middle scored Hirsch for a 4-3 score.
Dylan May singled and a walk to
Cody Miller loaded the bases. A double to right center by
Max McDougald scored two runs for a 5-4 lead. With two outs, a single through the left side by
Demetrius Jennings plated two more runs and Wofford had a 7-4 lead at the end of the third inning.
After the Bulldogs were retired in order in the top of the fourth,
Derek Hirsch had a single to start the bottom half of the inning. Hirsch stole second base and scored on a double off the wall in right field by
Brett Hash for an 8-4 game. The Bulldogs got one run back with an RBI double by Stephen Windham in the top of the fifth inning. With runners on the corners, a failed pickoff attempt scored a run to cut the lead to 8-6. The Citadel left two runners on base to end the top of the fifth and Wofford was retired in order in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The Bulldogs left one runner on base in the top of the sixth after a single. The Terriers had two runners reach on walks in the bottom of the sixth, but both were caught stealing second as Wofford took an 8-6 lead into the seventh inning. With two outs in the top of the seventh, the Bulldogs had back-to-back singles. A double by Jacob Watcher drove in both runners to tie the game at 8 as the game reached the seventh inning stretch.
McClain Bradley led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk. With one out, a double play ended the inning. The Citadel opened the ninth inning with Mike Deese reaching on an error. He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and took third on a wild pitch. A two-out double to left field by Steve Hansen gave The Citadel a 9-8 lead. Two runners were left on base to end the top half of the eighth.
Wofford had two outs in the bottom of the eighth that were followed by singled from
Kody Ruedisili and
Demetrius Jennings.
Alec Paradowski was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Derek Hirsch hit the ball to the shortstop, who threw to second base. Paradowski was safe at second on the play and Ruedisili scored to tie the game. A throw was made to home, but Jennings slide around the tag to give Wofford a 10-9 lead. The Citadel left one runner at second base in the top of the ninth to end the game.
Wofford starting pitcher
Adam Scott allowed three runs in the first inning on five walks and two strikeouts.
Elliot Lance worked 3.1 innings with three runs allowed on three hits, along with two strikeouts.
Austin Higginbotham threw 2.1 innings with two runs on three hits, plus a career-high five strikeouts.
Jordan Accetta allowed one run on three hits in an inning.
Will Stillman (3-1) earned the win by going the final one and a third with two strikeouts.
Thomas Byelick started for The Citadel and went 5.1 innings with eight runs allowed on eight hits while striking out eight batters. Jordan Buster did not allow a hit in 1.2 innings and had one strikeout. Kyle Smith (1-2) went two-thirds of an inning with two runs allowed on two hits. Zach Lavery recorded the final out.
Wofford and The Citadel conclude the series on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. The Terriers will host Winthrop on Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m.
