Alec Bouchard headlined a dominant pitching weekend as Wofford outlasted The Citadel in three tight games.
Wofford won a tightly contested Southern Conference series over The Citadel, taking all three games while separating by just five total runs across the weekend. The Terriers won with pitching, defense, and timely offense, holding The Citadel to eight runs over 27 innings and continuing a strong conference run that keeps them atop the SoCon standings. Even with the Bulldogs in range throughout the series, Wofford’s staff repeatedly made the biggest pitches, and pitching coach Pat Brown once again got consistent results out of his arms.
SoCon Standings
| Team | Record |
|---|---|
| Wofford | 8–1 |
| ETSU | 6–3 |
| Western Carolina | 6–3 |
| Samford | 5–4 |
| Mercer | 4–5 |
| The Citadel | 3–6 |
| UNC Greensboro | 2–7 |
| VMI | 2–7 |
Game 1: Wofford 2, The Citadel 0
Wofford opened the weekend with a 2-0 shutout on Friday night in a classic pitching duel between Terriers ace Alec Bouchard and The Citadel’s Friday night guy Will Holmes. Bouchard looked every bit like the best starting pitcher in the Southern Conference, working seven innings with 12 strikeouts while allowing just one walk. He needed only 93 pitches to get through his outing. Holmes matched him for much of the night, throwing six innings with eight strikeouts, but five walks forced him into stressful innings and cost him efficiency over 109 pitches.
The two pitchers put up zeros until the Terriers finally broke through in the fifth inning. Brady Gold drew a walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cade Collins, and then came home when Niko Brini doubled to center to give Wofford a 1-0 lead. That was all Bouchard needed. Wofford added insurance in the eighth when Logan Tribble led off with a single, stole second, and then moved to third on a throwing error by Garrett Fulmer. Hunter Herndon followed with an RBI single to bring home Tribble and extend the lead to 2-0.
Bouchard’s performance earned him Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week honors, which came as no surprise after a dominant outing that set the tone for the entire series. The Citadel pitched well enough to stay close, but Wofford’s ace was the difference in the opener.
Game 2: Wofford 6, The Citadel 5
Wofford clinched its third straight conference series with a 6-5 win on Saturday, and the middle game featured more offense, more traffic on the bases, and another timely finish from the Terriers. The Citadel struck first, with TJ Anderson delivering an RBI single for a 1-0 lead in the opening inning. Wofford responded immediately in the bottom half by loading the bases with two outs, then capitalizing when Andrew Mannelly delivered a single that drove home two runs and flipped the game to a 2-1 Terriers lead.
The Bulldogs answered in the second. Sam Dansky hit an RBI double to even the score at 2-2, and later a fielder’s choice pushed The Citadel back in front 3-2. Wofford answered again in the third when Tanner Hardin delivered the biggest swing of the game, a three-run home run that put the Terriers ahead 5-3. That lead expanded in the fifth when Brady Gold added an RBI double to make it 6-3.
The Citadel kept fighting. In the eighth, a passed ball brought home a run and cut the margin to 6-4, then Aryan Patel followed with an RBI single to make it 6-5 and tighten the game again. Gold helped preserve the lead with a diving catch on a liner at shortstop to end the inning. The Bulldogs put the leadoff man on in the ninth against Champ Davis, but Wofford ended the threat with a double play and a line out to close out the win.
Game 3: Wofford 5, The Citadel 3
The Citadel entered Sunday with a chance to avoid the sweep, and the finale again turned into a back-and-forth game before Wofford pulled away late for a 5-3 win. The Bulldogs got on the board first when Christian Stratis drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the opening inning. Wofford answered right away in the bottom half as Logan Tribble matched that with a sacrifice fly of his own, bringing home Cade Collins to tie the game 1-1. Later in the inning, Hunter Herndon added an RBI single to give Wofford a 2-1 lead.
Wofford added another run in the fourth when Niko Brini came through with a two-out RBI single to make it 3-1. The Citadel did not go away, however, and in the seventh inning the Bulldogs tied it at 3-3 on an RBI double by Jayden Williams and a groundout from Michael Gibson that plated another run.
Wofford answered in the bottom of the seventh. Tanner Hardin delivered another key hit with an RBI double to put the Terriers back in front 4-3. Brady Gold then executed a sacrifice bunt to move Hardin to third, and Cade Collins followed with a single to center that drove home Hardin and made it 5-3. That sequence gave Wofford the separation it needed, and the bullpen finished the job from there.
Champ Davis and Branton Little closed the last two innings back-to-back, sealing the weekend sweep and reinforcing just how strong Wofford’s pitching and relief work have been. The Citadel showed enough fight to keep all three games competitive, but Wofford consistently answered.
