GREENVILLE, S.C. – The No. 5 Wofford baseball team deposited a four-run third inning on No. 8 The Citadel Wednesday afternoon at Fluor Field and never looked back en route to an 8-3 triumph in the first round of the 2024 Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases. The Terriers improve to 36-17, and the Bulldogs see their season end at 21-32 with their elimination.
 
Zac Cowan (8-2) picked up the win for Wofford after tossing 6.2 innings with just one run allowed. He gave up five hits and one walk while striking out six batters. Those punchouts push his season total to 111, now the fourth most by a Terrier in a season and most since Adam Scott's program-record mark of 137 in 2018. Alec Bouchard pitched the final 2.1 innings with two runs allowed on three hits. He did not issue any walks and struck out two.
 
"Nothing changes really for us. It's the same mindset, same attack mode," said Cowan of his mentality getting the ball in the do-or-die contest. "Just trusting everything we've done this year and trusting our preparation, and it worked out for us."
 
Bulldog starter Ben Hutchins (3-6) suffered the loss after giving up one run in 2.0 innings on three hits.
 
The Terrier offense reached double-digit hits for the ninth-straight game with 10 in the contest. Marshall Toole, David Wiley and Jack Renwick led the way as each totaled a pair of base knocks. Wiley recorded three RBI, all of which came on his bases-clearing double. Toole added an RBI, and he and Renwick both notched doubles as well as part of five Terrier two-baggers. Adam Haber and Dixon Black added in the other two doubles with each driving in a run. Daniel Jackson and Brice Martinez tallied the remaining Terrier RBI with one each. Jackson extended his on-base streak to 42 games, matching Toole's program mark from earlier in the season.
 
Toole scored two runs in the contest to lift his season total to 74, breaking the program's record for runs scored in a campaign. He tops the prior mark of 73 set twice before by Brandon Waring (2007) and Ryan Galanie (2023).
 
The contest opened as a pitchers' duel with both teams going scoreless through the first two innings. But after Zac Cowan forced another zero for The Citadel in the top of the third, the Terrier bats got to work in the bottom of the frame to the tune of four runs. Jack Renwick opened the inning with a double, and Marshall Toole added a bunt single before Dixon Black walked to load the bases. Brice Martinez then drove in the first run of the ballgame with an RBI groundout before the bases were reloaded when Daniel Jackson was hit by a pitch. After a strikeout, David Wiley stepped and rocketed a ball into the left-center gap, clearing the bases with a three-run double. Wofford jumped out to an early 4-0 lead.
 
"I wouldn't necessarily say anything changed; we just stayed consistent the whole time," said Marshall Toole of the breakout four-run third inning. "We went through the first few innings, and we were hitting balls hard, and they just weren't falling. And we kept the pressure on them, and after so long they start falling."
 
After back-to-back scoreless frames, the Terriers added another run in the bottom of the sixth. With two runners on, Adam Haber drove in David Wiley with an RBI fielder's choice, extending the lead to 5-1.
 
The Citadel finally got onto the scoreboard with a solo home run in the top of the seventh, but it was all the Bulldogs could get in the frame. Wofford remained in front, 5-1.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, the Terriers got that run back with one more to spare. Back-to-back doubles by Toole and Black to open the inning brought Toole home. After a sacrifice bunt, Jackson pushed the second run home with an RBI groundout. The Terriers stretched their lead to 7-1.
 
Both teams scored a run in the eighth. The Citadel tacked one on with an RBI groundout in the top of the inning, and Wofford responded in the bottom of the frame with a run on Toole's RBI sacrifice bunt. The Terriers held an 8-2 lead entering the ninth.
 
The Citadel would lift a solo homer in the top of the ninth, but it was all the Bulldogs could muster for a comeback attempt. Alec Bouchard induced a flyout to center for the third out, sealing an 8-3 Terrier triumph.
 
With the win, Wofford survives the single-elimination play-in round, advancing to the double-elimination portion of the bracket. The Terriers will face off against No. 4 Western Carolina tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m. at Fluor Field.