CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern baseball fell short in game three of the four-game season set with Lowcountry rival The Citadel. CSU took a 2-1 lead in the fourth but eventually fell 6-2 at The Joe Wednesday night.
 
The Citadel (20-16) found the game's first run in the bottom of the first after a wild pitch plated Dylan Costa with two outs in the frame. Both teams would then settle in nicely as each team attacked the contest with a Johnny Wholestaff approach.
 
Charleston Southern (14-23) would be the next to score in the fourth inning, plating two runs in the visiting-half of the inning. Austen Izzio's single into left field would account for the first CSU run after Ajay Sczepkowski came around to score before Hayden Harris gave the Bucs their first lead of the contest, scoring on an error.
 
The Bulldogs answered back in the fifth to tie things up at two with a Ryan McCarthy single through the right side to score Costa. The sixth frame saw The Citadel take a lead it would not give back, as a long fly into the gap in right center allowed Sawyer Reeves to score and make it 3-2.
 
The affair would stay stagnant until the eighth inning, as The Citadel would add three insurance runs to double its run total and put things out of reach from that moment on. Noah Mitchell was credited with a sacrifice fly to score Costa before a two-run single off the bat of Luke Montenery capped the inning off.
 
John Sendziak (L, 0-1) gets the loss for Charleston Southern after being charged with the go-ahead run in 1.2 innings of work. Seven different pitches toed the rubber for the Bucs in the contest, collectively being charged with just three earned runs. Chandler Woolridge got the start, working through the first three frames and only giving up one earned on a hit and four punchies.
 
George Derrick Floyd (W, 2-0) picks up the win for The Citadel after coming on in the sixth frame and recording five outs without giving up a run. Jordan Beatson gets his first save of the season after entering the contest in a save situation and recorded the final seven outs.

"The team that plays best wins, and we weren't the best baseball team tonight," said Head Coach Marc MacMillan. "We looked at some moves defensively, and I liked most of what I saw. Pitching-wise, we hung in there despite too many walks. As a coaching staff, we'll build off of the positives as we move into the weekend."

UP NEXT
Charleston Southern will return to Nielsen Field for a Big South weekender as it plays host to Gardner-Webb starting Friday, April 22. First pitch for the opener is slated for 5:00 p.m. and will be followed by game two Saturday, April 23 at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday, April 24 at 1:00 p.m. in the Lowcountry.