SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Despite a late push by the Salukis, the Wofford baseball team held firm to clamp down the win Sunday afternoon at Russell C. King Field, earning a 5-4 victory over Southern Illinois. The Terriers win the series and improve to 2-1 on the season, and SIU falls to 2-2.
 
After dropping game one, the Terriers fought back to win back-to-back games and claim the series. Wofford has now won its opening series in five consecutive seasons.
 
"SIU is a very dangerous team; they have one of the best offenses in the country, and throughout the weekend it comes down to how well you can endure the punches they're going to land because their game is built around extra-base hits," said assistant coach Josh Schulman. "And we'll give our pitchers a ton of credit. We could not be prouder of their ability to withstand hard contact, throw high strikes, flood the zone and force them to hit our best pitches with good height."
 
Freshman Branton Little (1-0) earned the win in relief, tossing 2.0 innings as the first man out of the bullpen for the Terriers. He allowed two runs on four hits en route to his first-career victory. Coulson Buchanan started for Wofford, throwing 4.0 innings of one-run ball with five punchouts and three hits. Lucas Mahlstedt (1) notched the save, shutting the door over the final 3.0 innings. He allowed only one run on one hit, striking out two. The save is the first for Mahlstedt in his career.
 
Wofford out-hit SIU 11-8, but a key difference was the defensive play. The Terriers kept it clean while the Salukis made three errors. The Terriers also got things going on the basepaths, swiping three bags to just one steal for SIU.
 
Ryan Galanie remained hot, pacing the Wofford offense with three hits, two of which were doubles. He also knocked in a run and tallied one of the steals. Trey Yunger and Cameron Gill each knocked a pair of hits, and Yunger added an RBI and a steal. Four more Terriers recorded hits, and three of those four notched an RBI. Brice Martinez was one of them, and he added Wofford's third steal.
 
The Salukis scored first in the top of the first when a wild pitch on a strikeout allowed a run to score.
 
The 1-0 lead lasted until the bottom of the third when Marshall Toole unloaded on a pitch, sending out his first-career home run to level the score. Later in the frame, Brice Martinez doubled down the right field line to give Wofford a 2-1 lead.
 
In the fifth, SIU tacked on two run to pull back in front. A pair of RBI singles made the score 3-2.
 
But in the bottom of the inning, Wofford bounced back with two runs of its own. Dixon Black singled in a run to tie the contest, and Trey Yunger brought Black home with his own single to make the score 4-3.
 
Wofford earned what proved to be an important insurance run in the sixth. After Cameron Gill reached base, Ryan Galanie ripped a double down the left field line to plate Gill and make the score 5-3.
 
Lucas Mahlstedt entered the game in the seventh, and SIU had no answer for him until the ninth when a Saluki connected on a solo home run with one out. But that was all SIU could muster, as Mahlstedt clamped down to record the final two outs and seal the 5-4 Terrier victory.
 
Wofford remains out home this week with a midweek match-up against UNC Asheville on Tuesday, Feb. 21. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. at Russell C. King Field. Then, the Terriers welcome Kent State to town for a three-game set beginning on Friday.