CHARLESTON, SC After coming back from a five-run deficit, UNC Greensboro nearly notched its first road sweep over The Citadel in 10 years. But a ninth inning double broke a 7-7 tie and gave the Bulldogs the 8-7, Sunday afternoon victory at Riley Park in Charleston, SC.
A three-run blast in the home half of the first inning by Chris McGuiness and a two-run shot in the second by Chris Swauger gave the Bulldogs the early 5-0 lead. After falling back 6-1 after five innings, UNCG snatched the lead out of The Citadel's paws with three-run rallies in the sixth and seventh inning, but a wild pitch in the bottom of seven knotted the game at 7-7. The game remained tied until Sonny Meade shot the ball into the right field corner to bring in Bryan Altman for the game winning run.
With the Sunday conference victory, the Bulldogs improve to 23-17, 11-7 SoCon. The Spartans are now 24-14, 10 5 SoCon.
The Bulldogs jumped out with a five-run lead with home runs in the opening two innings. In the first, McGuiness let one fly over the left field wall just inside the foul pole to score three. In the next inning, Chris Swauger gave the Bulldogs the 5-0 lead with a two-run shot of his own.
In the third, shortstop Matt Gaski singled up the middle to plate catcher Adam Deleo, but The Citadel answered right back with an RBI double to put the score at 6-1.
UNCG took The Citadel three-up, three down in the fourth and in the fifth, reliever Warren Slack tossed two bases loaded strikeouts to hold the Bulldogs silent before the Spartans went on a three-run rally in the sixth. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases for right fielder Sean Snell to drive one in with a single through the left side. In the next at-bat, centerfielder Corey Overholtzer slapped a double into the right center gap to bring around first baseman Ricky Orton and second baseman Tim Carrier.
The blue and gold took a 7-6 lead in the seventh with their second three-run rally of the afternoon. Gaski started things off with a left center double to plate left fielder Pedro Leon from first. He was then brought in off of a sacrifice fly to center field to tie the game at 6-6. The Spartans took the one-run lead as Snell singled through the left side to drive Orton in from second.
The Bulldogs knotted the game at 7-7 in the home half of the seventh inning by way of a wild pitch. In the bottom of the ninth, the Bulldogs broke the tie with a game-winning double to right field by Sonny Meade.
The Citadel's Matt Reifsnider (4-2) tallied the win after coming to the mound late in the game. UNCG's James White (5-1) took his first loss of the season after coming in to pitch in the ninth.
The Spartans will remain at home all this coming week as they host Duke on Tuesday and NC State on Wednesday. Both games a slated for a 6pm start time at UNCG Baseball Stadium. The blue and gold will follow-up with a three-game weekend conference series with the league-leading Elon Phoenix.
For news about UNCG baseball, complete season schedule, and any other information regarding Spartan athletics log onto www.UNCGSpartans.com.
# # UNCG # #
The Citadel 8, UNC Greensboro 7 (Apr 20, 2008 at Charleston, SC)
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UNC Greensboro...... 001 003 300 - 7 15 0 (24-14, 10-5 SoCon)
The Citadel......... 321 000 101 - 8 12 1 (23-17, 11-7 SoCon)
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Pitchers: UNC Greensboro - Greg Smith; Matt Bjorkstrom(3); Warren Slack(5); James White(9).
The Citadel - Asher Wojciechowski; Matt Talley(7); Matt Reifsnider(9).
Win-Matt Reifsnider(4-2) Loss-James White(5-1)
HR CIT - Chris Swauger; Chris McGuiness.
Bjorkstrom faced 3 batters in the 5th.
White faced 2 batters in the 9th.
