GREENSBORO, N.C. - Some approaching weather forced an early start to UNCG baseball's series finale against The Citadel this Saturday, as the hosting Spartans completed the sweep with a 14-1 win that was called on a run-rule after six and a half innings. The 9 AM first pitch proved a boost for the hosts, who wrapped up their third win in two days before the strike of noon. The Spartans outhit the Bulldogs 13-4 in the contest, four of which came off the bat of Hogan Windish, while Alex Hoppe performed a near-spotless day on the mound.

The Spartans gained the early advantage for a third game in a row, hanging four on the Bulldogs during the second inning. 

Windish led off the offensive frame with the first of his two doubles as Josh Madole and Sam Koruschak followed the infielder's extra-base knock with back-to-back singles to put the Spartans ahead 1-0. A two-out ground rule double from Dallas Callahan doubled the home team's advantage later in the inning, while a Corey Rosier single put the Spartans ahead by four.

The game really opened up in the third however, with UNCG tacking on another six runs on four hits and a pair of Bulldog errors.

Every Spartan batter in the lineup stepped into the batter's box during the bottom half of that inning. Pres Cavenaugh wore a pitch to lead off the frame, while a pair of singles from Windish and Madole loaded the bases for a Sam Koruschak sac fly RBI. 

Zack Budzik made it 6-0 with a single through the left side, while two more runs came across on a dropped infield fly. A second Bulldog error extended the Spartans' offensive opportunities, with Greg Hardison driving in his team's ninth and tenth runs of the morning on a double to left. 

UNCG's offense provided a proper cushion for Spartan starter Alex Hoppe, but the righty didn't need it, taking a perfect game into the fourth, before surrendering his first knock of the day in the fifth. The Citadel's lone run of the contest came in that inning, as a passed ball aided the Bulldogs offense with an unearned tally.

Hoppe's day ended after five innings of work, but the right hander did more than enough to earn his first winning decision of 2021, holding The Citadel without an earned run, while striking out four and facing five over the minimum.

The Spartans scored in four straight innings, from the second through the fifth. The home side added the final four runs of the contest during the final two offensive frames of that run, scoring one in the fourth and three more in the following inning.

Windish's second double of the game put Cavenaugh in position to score off a Madole sac fly, before the former drove in a run on a bases loaded walk in inning number five. Windish wrapped up his four-hit day with a two-RBI single in that same frame to make it 14-1, a score that stood as the final after a pair of shutout innings from Jack Voigt and Kross Robinson.

Trailing by 13 at the stretch, any chance of a Bulldogs comeback was erased as the travel day run-rule came in effect, giving the Spartans the series sweep before lunchtime on Saturday.

>>> Windish's four hits are a new career-high for the redshirt-sophomore. He's hit in seven of his last nine appearances, delivering two or more knocks on four occasions during that run, and has lifted his season batting average by 43 points just in the last two weeks
>>> Hitting for a fourth straight game, Hardison's pair of knocks in the finale gives the outfielder six for the weekend, while he's averaging 9-for-16 (.563) over his current hitting streak
>>> Rosier is on a four-game hitting streak himself, extending his on-base streak to 12 games with two more hits on Saturday. He's crossed home plate nine times during his current hitting streak, and is hitting 7-for-14 (.500) over his past four appearances
>>> Cavenaugh did not register a hit on Saturday, but did touch first three times on a pair of walks and a hit by pitch. Josh Madole drew a walk as well, to add to his two singles on the day

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