Story courtesy of The Citadel sports information
The Citadel 13, Davidson 4
Charleston, S.C. ? Powered by a 19-hit attack, The Citadel downed Davidson, 13-4, Thursday night in Southern Conference baseball action at Riley Park. Senior shortstop Matt Matulia paced the Bulldog offense batting 3-for-4, including two doubles, four RBI and scoring twice. Six other Bulldogs enjoyed a multi-hit night, while junior first baseman Zach Brown and senior second baseman Tripp Cappelmann combined to drive in five runs.
The Citadel improves to 26-24 overall and pulls back to .500 in the SoCon with an 11-11 record. Davidson falls to 17-28, 4-17 SoCon.
The Bulldogs had 13 hits in the first four innings as they batted around twice. Their 19 total hits are a season-high for the Dogs with the previous mark of 17 coming against Charleston Southern on April 4 as The Citadel slipped past the Buccaneers, 13-12.
Three of Davidson’s four scores came on solo home runs. Gregory Zage led the Wildcats as he was 3-for-5, including one of the Wildcats’ four-baggers.
Matulia tied his career mark of four RBI, with the last time being on Feb. 19, 2005 when he drove in four runs against Coppin State. Cappelmann also enjoyed a career night as he smacked four hits to extend his hitting streak to eight games. The senior tied his career mark set on March 23, 2004 against Charleston Southern.
Davidson jumped out to a 1-0 advantage in the first thanks to a solo home run by Jay Heafner, but did not enjoy the lead for very long as The Citadel exploded for nine runs over the fourth and fifth innings. Brown was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to even it at one before Matulia sent two across the dish with a base hit off the wall in left, moving Brown to second. Brown advanced to third on a fly out by third baseman Matt Arnold and then stole home as Matulia swiped second to give the Dogs a three-run advantage in the third.
Three consecutive RBI-doubles by freshman designated hitter Sonny Meade, Brown and Matulia scored three, while Cappelmann smacked a run-scoring single and scored on a balk to make it 9-1 in the fourth.
A sac fly off the bat of Osborn and a pair solo jacks by Entrekin and Zage gave the Wildcats three more runs, but the Dogs tacked on three in the seventh to put the game out of reach. Brown tallied an RBI single, while Matulia drove in his fourth run with a sac fly. A throwing error by Davidson first baseman Alden Crissey allowed the final run to cross the plate.
Freshman Wes Wrenn (5-2) picked up his second straight win, coming off a complete game last Friday in a 7-2 win over Appalachian State. The right-hander tossed 8.0 frames, allowing four runs on six hits while striking out five. Rob Wilson (4-7) suffered the loss for the Wildcats as he threw 4.0 innings, giving up nine runs on 13 hits, while fanning three.
The Dogs and Wildcats will wrap-up the three-game set tomorrow as they play a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. at Riley Park. The Citadel will recognize the graduated seniors prior to the first game.