Charleston Southern holds off Elon, 4-1, in first of three-game series

Swindle wins his eighth game and is six Ks away from the school record.

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern's R.J. Swindle scattered four hits and struck out nine in 7 1/3 innings to pace the Buccaneers to a 4-1 win over visiting Elon University in the first game of a three-game Big South Conference series at Buccaneer Field on Friday afternoon.

Swindle (8-4) walked a career-high six batters but managed to escape damage until the eighth, giving way to freshman Bobby Parnell with one out. Parnell got out of the inning with only one run scoring.

After an out in the ninth, Parnell walked a pair of Elon pinch-hitters, Chris Price and George Brandner, before being relieved by Brad Bissell, who struck out Evan Tartaglia and Brian Ingram to end the game and record his first save of the season.

With the nine strikeouts, Swindle moved closer to the school's all-time strikeout record. The 6-3 left-hander now has 243 career strikeouts, leaving him six shy of tying the record. The victory was Swindle's seventh straight without a loss, and Swindle lowered his Big South Conference leading earned run average to 2.05.

CSU (16-29, 8-8) managed just eight hits, two by second baseman Brad Woods, who belted a two-run homerun in the bottom of the first inning off of Elon's Matt Garner (6-5). Garner allowed all four runs in seven innings of work. Designated hitter Jeff Kolhagen and right fielder Brandon Massey each had an RBI to aid in the offensive attack.

Elon falls to 25-20-2 overall and 8-6 in the Big South Conference. The two teams will conclude the series with a doubleheader on Saturday with the first game beginning at 12:30 p.m.

The two games will conclude CSU's home schedule for 2003 as the Buccaneers play their final nine games on the road.