The Buccaneer baseball team ran into a strong pitching effort on Thursday against The Citadel, as three members of The Citadel’s staff combined to three-hit the Bucs.
The Bulldogs came away with a close 3-2 win in Southern Conference baseball action.
The Citadel (14-11, 7-2 SoCon) got things started quickly in the bottom of the first off of ETSU (7-15, 1-6 SoCon) starter Donnie Sharp, getting singles from the first three hitters to load the bases.
Chip Cannon got a fourth straight single that pushed across the first run of the game for the Bulldogs.
Sharp settled down after Cannon’s hit, striking out two of the next three batters, allowing an RBI groundout between the two whiffs to get out of the innings trailing 2-0.
ETSU closed the gap with its first run in the top of the third.
Tim Turner led off with a walk and then stole second base. He moved to third on a single by Matt Traylor and came home on a double-play fly ball to left off the bat of Jeremy Terry.
The Citadel pushed its lead back to a pair of runs in the fifth. Brook Dantzler led off with a double to right center and was sacrificed to third. After a walk to Jason Randall, Dantzler then stole home as part of a double steal with Randall.
ETSU answered in its next at-bat in the sixth.
With one out, Kirk Keithley walked and moved to third on a single by Michael Giroud. Caleb Moore then brought Keithley home with a fielder’s choice ball to short.
Bulldog pitching held the Bucs in check after that, however, not allowing a hit over the last three innings.
Raymond Jenkins started and went 5.1 innings to pick up his first win of the season, allowing all three ETSU hits and both runs and striking out seven. Matt Hammer and Randy Corn finished the game for The Citadel, with Hammer striking out five in just 2.2 innings and Corn notching his eighth save with a perfect ninth.
Sharp took the loss for ETSU, allowing all three Citadel runs and five hits in 4.1 innings and striking out five. Trevor Smith threw well in relief, holding the Bulldogs off the board in three innings of work with four strikeouts.
Traylor, Giroud and Chad Boruff had the only hits for ETSU.
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After getting only three hits on Thursday night, the Bucs’ bats went completely quiet on Friday evening in Charleston, as The Citadel’s T.A.
Fulmer spun a no-hit gem at the Bucs, leading the Bulldogs to a 6-0 Southern Conference baseball win.
The Citadel (15-11, 8-2 SoCon) got the only run it would need in the second when Jon Aughey led off with a double and moved to third on a ground out. He then scored on another ground out to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
A five-run sixth wrapped things up for The Citadel.
The Bulldogs strung together seven consecutive hits off of ETSU (7-16, 1-7 SoCon) starter Reid Casey, with the big blow a two-run bases loaded single off the bat of Will Coker.
One run proved to be all that Fulmer would need, as the senior was in control all night, striking out 14 Buccaneer batters. Walks to Ryan Hyder and Tim Turner were the only two base runners that Fulmer allowed during the game.
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The Citadel scored runs in three consecutive innings to overcome an early Buccaneer lead as the Bulldogs came away with an 8-2 Southern Conference baseball win Saturday afternoon to complete the three-game sweep of the series.
ETSU (7-17, 1-8 SoCon) got the first run of the game in the second when Kirk Keithley singled, moved to second on a single to short by Jeremy Terry and then scored on an RBI by Bryan Crouse.
The Citadel broke into the scoring column in the fourth with a pair of runs.
Jason Randall led off with a walk, moved to third on a single by Chip Cannon and then scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Matt Dean. Cannon later scored on a ground out to make it 2-1.
A double by David Griffin and a single by Cannon brought home another run in the fifth before the Bulldogs put the game away with three in the sixth. The Bulldogs got a sac fly from Chris Ard for the first run of the inning before getting an RBI single from Brook Dantzler. The last run of the inning came home on an RBI fielder’s choice with runners on first and third.
The Citadel added two more in the eighth to pad its lead before the Bucs scratched across a run in the ninth. A two-out RBI single from Brandon Cross brought home Ryan Hyder who had led off the inning with a pinch-hit single.
Cross led ETSU with a 3-for-3 afternoon.
On the mound, Eric Talbert started and got his second win of the season, allowing one run in five innings. Tim Turner started and took the loss for ETSU, allowing six runs in 5.1 innings.

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