SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford baseball team opened Southern Conference play with an exclamation mark behind quality starts from Zac Cowan Mike Eggert alongside three total long balls by Dixon Black as the Terriers downed The Citadel 19-3 (seven innings) and 6-3 in a doubleheader Saturday at Russell C. King Field. Wofford improves to 15-5 (2-0 SoCon) with the twin bill sweep as the Bulldogs drop to 14-7 (0-2 SoCon).
 
With a series win to open SoCon play in 2024, Wofford has now won its opening series of the league slate for a fifth-straight season.
 
Offense continued to be the calling card for the Terriers as Wofford totaled 29 hits between the two games and outscored The Citadel 25-6.
 
GAME ONE
The Series opened with a run-rule triumph behind Zac Cowan's (4-0) 6.0 innings of work to claim the win. Cowan struck out 10 batters, his second game of the campaign with double-digit punchouts. He allowed three runs on five hits but issued no walks. Dylan Rhadans tossed the final inning, a 1-2-3 frame.
 
The Citadel's Landon Slemp (2-2) suffered the loss after starting and pitching 2.2 innings with 13 runs allowed on 13 hits and two walks.
 
All nine starting hitters for Wofford owned at least one base knock, and seven of them tallied at least two hits. Andrew Mannelly led the way with his five hits, a new career high and the first five-hit outing by a Terrier since Trey Yunger had five at ETSU in April of last season. Two of his hits were long balls, his first-career multi-homer game. Mannelly also tallied five RBI, another career high. Brice Martinez added in three hits, as did Dixon Black. But Black's were certainly the loudest, as he clubbed a pair of home runs, his third-career multi-homer game (second as a Terrier). Black drove home a career-best seven RBI, aided by his two-run homer and grand slam. Black's other hit was a triple, giving him 11 total bases in game one.
 
The Terriers hit six home runs in total in the first game, tied for third most in a game in program history. It is Wofford's highest single-game home run total since hitting seven against Presbyterian on April 21, 2009. Alongside Black and Mannelly's two homers each, Daniel Jackson and David Wiley both clubbed round-trippers.
 
The scoring opened in the bottom of the first with back-to-back triples to lead things off for Wofford, with the latter coming off Dixon Black's bat to score Marshall Toole. An Andrew Mannelly single plated Black for the early 2-0 lead.
 
The Citadel fought back to take a lead in the second with three runs. Wofford responded with a David Wiley solo shot in the bottom of the frame to pull level, giving the contest the early makings of a back-and-forth battle.
 
In the third, Black went yard with a two-run bomb, and Mannelly followed up with a solo homer to push the Terriers in front 6-3.
 
It was a lead they would not look back from, as the early indications were wrong. The Terriers piled on nine more runs in the fourth to bust the game wide open, beginning with Black's massive grand slam that was clobbered to left center. Mannelly again followed with a solo homer, the duo's second time going back-to-back in the contest. Daniel Jackson would join the long ball party with a two-run jack of his own, and later Tyler Bak hit a run-scoring single. Jack Renwick followed with a bunt single that plater run, ending the onslaught with Wofford ahead 15-3.
 
In the sixth, Mannelly knocked an RBI single to begin a three-run frame. Another run scored later on a throwing error, and Tyler Hare added his own RBI single for a 19-3 lead.
 
Dylan Rhadans came out of the bullpen to shut the door in the top of the seventh, sealing a 19-3 run-rule triumph.
 
GAME TWO
The backend of the doubleheader was a 180-degree change of pace from the first, as instead of a blowout the contest was more of the back-and-forth bout that the early stages of game one indicated it may be.
 
Terrier starter Mike Eggert (4-1) turned in another quality start to claim the win with 6.0 innings of work and three runs (two earned) allowed. He surrendered four hits and one walk with three strikeouts. Camden Wicker (2) picked up the save after finishing off the final 3.0 innings with no runs allowed and just a hit and walk to blemish his line. Wicker added in a pair of punchouts.
 
George Derrick Floyd (1-1) suffered the loss out of the bullpen for The Citadel with three runs allowed on four hits and three walks in 2.1 innings of action.
 
Tyler Hare recorded three of Wofford's eight hits in game two with the other five dispersed evenly amongst his teammates. Dixon Black pushed his RBI total on the day to nine with two in game two, reaching base twice with a hit and walk. Tyler Bak also added two RBI with a hit and walk. Brice Martinez and Marshall Toole both drove home one run, and Martinez added two walks to his one base knock.
 
The Terriers again struck first in the first, this time with an RBI double by Brice Martinez down the left field line. Wofford led 1-0.
 
But in the second, The Citadel pulled even with a wild pitch.
 
In the third, the Bulldogs tallied two run to claim the lead. A triple pushed across the go-ahead run, and The Citadel added one more with a throwing error to lead 3-0.
 
However, the lead did not last long as in the bottom of the fourth Wofford pulled even. Tyler Bak drew a bases-loaded walk, and Marshall Toole's bunt single scored the tying run. The score stood level at 3-3.
 
After a scoreless fifth, Wofford retook the lead for good in the sixth. Dixon Black lifted another round-tripper, his third of the day, to right field. His two-run opposite-field shot gave the Terriers a 5-3 lead.
 
Bak's sacrifice fly in the seventh scored an insurance run, pushing the lead to 6-3 for Wofford.
 
But the insurance was not needed, as Camden Wicker came out of the bullpen and held firm over the final three frames, closing the door on a 6-3 triumph and series win for the Terriers.
 
Wofford looks for the sweep tomorrow afternoon with game three of the series. First pitch against The Citadel is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Russell C. King Field, and the contest will be streamed on ESPN+.