CHARLESTON, SC – The Citadel starting pitcher Ken Egleton didn't allow a hit until the sixth inning and hurled his first complete game of the season as UNC Greensboro was eliminated from Southern Conference Tournament competition, falling 10-3 to the tournament host Bulldogs Friday afternoon at Riley Park.
Egleton (2-3) allowed three runs on eight hits while striking out seven in nine innings of mound duty.
Sophomore left-hander Clay Gibson (2-3) took the loss after allowing four runs (three earned) on three hits in 1/3 of an inning of work.
The Citadel (32-26) exploded for four runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a commanding 4-0 lead. Rightfielder Matt Covington walked on four straight pitches to start the inning and Chris Swauger and Sonny Meade followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases. First baseman Zach Brown produced the Bulldogs' first run with a sacrifice fly into leftfield before Matt Matulia gave The Citadel a 2-0 lead with a single to center. The Bulldogs went on to score two more runs on a throwing error on the Spartan infield and a sac fly from Chance Smith.
The Bulldogs tacked on another three runs in the following inning to take a 7-0 advantage. Meade singled off the pitcher and into rightfield for an RBI while Brown added an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Matt Arnold capped the inning with an RBI single through the right side just past the diving Logan Smith at first base. Brown put the Bulldogs up 8-0 after the fourth with his third RBI of the afternoon on a single to leftfield to score Swauger from third.
UNCG (26-33) tallied three runs in the top of the sixth as the Spartans started the inning with four straight hits. Smith opened the inning with a bleeder into shallow center to break up Egleton's no-hit bid. Shane Thompson followed with a sharp single up the middle and Greg Feltes drove home Smith with a single into left-centerfield. Sean Snell then singled down the rightfield line to load the bases before Jermaine Mitchell tallied his team-leading 41st RBI with a groundout to the right side. Mike Mongiello, who entered the game in the fifth inning, produced the final run with a groundout to shortstop to make the score 8-3.
Swauger picked up his third hit of the afternoon in the home half of the sixth and put the Bulldogs up 9-3 in the process with an RBI double to right-centerfield. The Citadel catcher Sid Fallaw added an RBI single to centerfield in the bottom of the seventh to make the score 10-3 in favor of the Bulldogs.
Smith and Feltes each recorded two hits apiece for the Spartans while Feltes also had an RBI.
UNCG finished the season with 26 wins, leaving head coach Mike Gaski entering next season just five wins shy of his 500th career win. The skipper boasts a career 495-374-1 record during his 16 season at the helm in Greensboro.
AGATE:
The Citadel 10, UNC Greensboro 3 (May 26, 2006 at Charleston, SC)
UNC Greensboro...... 000 003 000 - 3 8 3 (26-33)
The Citadel......... 430 101 10X - 10 12 0 (32-26)
Pitchers: UNC Greensboro - Clay Gibson; Jonathan Nichols(1); Clinton McKinney(4); Wes McCall(6)
The Citadel - K. Egleton.
Win-K. Egleton(2-3) Loss-Clay Gibson(2-3) T-2:23 A-1816
- UNCG -
