Bulldogs take series from Longwood behind timely offense and steady pitching
The Citadel turned in a solid weekend by taking two of three from Longwood, securing an out-of-conference series win against a middle-of-the-pack Big South club that entered with an RPI of 131. The Lancers arrived having lost four of their previous five games, and although they had pushed North Carolina in a February 18 midweek contest, the rest of their schedule had been fairly modest. It was the kind of series The Citadel needed to make count, and the Bulldogs did exactly that by claiming the first two games before dropping the finale.
Game 1: The Citadel 6, Longwood 3
Longwood struck first with a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. A run-scoring groundout opened the scoring, and a later double brought home another run, handing The Citadel an early deficit.
The Bulldogs answered immediately in the bottom of the first, turning the game around with a three-run inning to take a 3-2 lead. Christian Stratis drove in a run with a single to spark the rally, and Zach Hunt followed with a two-run hit that put The Citadel in front for the first time.
Longwood managed to even the score in the fourth inning, and from there the game tightened. The score remained tied until the sixth, when Garrett Fulmer delivered one of the key swings of the afternoon. Fulmer tripled to bring home Hunt, breaking the deadlock and restoring The Citadel’s advantage at 4-3.
That margin held until the eighth, when the Bulldogs created the needed separation. The Citadel added two insurance runs in the bottom of the inning, turning a one-run game into a 6-3 lead and giving the pitching staff room to finish the opener without further drama.
Jayden Williams, who has developed into one of the most effective leadoff hitters in the Southern Conference, extended his on-base streak to 18 games.
On the mound, Will Holmes, the Bulldogs’ Friday guy, delivered exactly the kind of start The Citadel needed. Holmes worked 6.0 innings and struck out seven. After a rocky first inning, he settled in, limited the damage, kept Longwood from putting together big innings, and put the Bulldogs in position to take control late.
Game 2: The Citadel 8, Longwood 4
The second game of the series followed a somewhat similar pattern early, with Longwood striking first. The Lancers took a 1-0 lead in the opening inning, again forcing The Citadel to answer from behind. The Bulldogs did exactly that in the second, tying the game at 1-1 on a sacrifice fly from Garrett Fulmer.
Longwood reclaimed a 2-1 lead, but this game turned because The Citadel steadily applied pressure over multiple innings. The Bulldogs scored in four consecutive frames, building a 6-2 lead through five innings and gradually shifting the game in their favor.
The series-clinching win also featured a critical relief moment in the seventh. After Brogan Jones drove in a run with an RBI single, Longwood loaded the bases while trailing 6-3 and had a clear chance to make the game much tighter. That was when Trip Brown entered and worked out of the jam, preserving the three-run lead and preventing the inning from becoming the turning point.
The Citadel rewarded that escape with immediate offense in the bottom half of the seventh. Zach Hunt came through again, this time with a two-run home run that pushed the lead to 8-3 and gave the Bulldogs full control. Longwood added a solo homer in the ninth to make it 8-4, but Brown closed the door two batters later to secure the win and the series.
Hunt was the standout offensive performer, finishing 3-for-5 and driving in two runs with a seventh-inning homer. Through the first two games, he is 5-for-7 with four RBIs. Fulmer also continued to deliver in key run-producing spots, going 4-for-7 with three RBIs over the first two games of the series.
Michael Gibson delivered a strong start, working 5.0 innings and allowing just three hits and one earned run while striking out five before handing the game to the bullpen. Brown was equally valuable in relief, throwing 2.1 innings and allowing only a solo home run in the ninth. Even more notably, he entered in the game’s most pressure-filled moment and kept Longwood from altering the series-clinching outcome.
Game 3: Longwood 5, The Citadel 1
After dropping the first two games, Longwood salvaged the finale by winning a game that remained scoreless deep into the afternoon. For six innings, The Citadel used four different pitchers to keep the Lancers off the scoreboard, matching Longwood starter Drew Siegner, who delivered six shutout innings of his own.
The game turned in the seventh with everything still locked at 0-0. Longwood opened the inning with a double and then added a single to place runners at the corners. Max Lawson then beat out a bunt, allowing Lucas Johnson to score for a 1-0 lead. A wild pitch brought home another run, and an RBI triple extended the margin to 3-0.
The Bulldogs did answer in the bottom of the seventh. Sam Dansky brought home a run with a sacrifice bunt, trimming the score to 3-1 and briefly giving The Citadel a path back into the game. But Longwood added insurance in the eighth on a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly, stretching the lead to 5-1 and effectively putting the finale out of reach.
From The Citadel’s perspective, the most frustrating part of the loss was that the pitching held up well enough for much of the game to make a win possible. Keeping Longwood scoreless through six innings with a four-pitcher effort gave the Bulldogs every chance to complete the sweep. The difference was that, unlike the first two games, the offense could not create enough pressure before the late innings.
