CHARLESTON – The Buccaneers continued their historic start to the 2026 season on Friday night with a 7-4 win in the series opener against Elon. They move to 5-0 with the victory, becoming their first 5-0 start since 1977 and the first time the Bucs have in their NCAA Division I era.
Elon scratched the first run of the day across in the top of the fist. Jackson Alford singled and proceeded to steal second and third. Kevin Denty got on with a walk, and they ran a double steal which allowed Alford to score.
In the second, the Bucs were able to bring it level. With two outs,
Gavin Speirs got on base with a single through the right side.
Caden Wolfley got on via an error by the shortstop to move Speirs to third.
Blake Edgmon doubled to right center on the first pitch he saw to tie it at one apiece.
In the third, Charleston Southern hammered three solo home runs to take the lead.
Garrison Barile led it off with one to solo center and was followed by
Chandler Tuupo sending one over the fence in right to go back-to-back. Following a flyout,
Lucas Pringle got one himself to right field, moving the score to 4-1. Elon cut their deficit to 4-3 with an RBI single in the fourth and then a solo home run in the sixth.
In the sixth, Tuupo Tuupo had a two RBI single up the middle to score a Collins and Edgmon and bring their lead to 6-3. In the seventh, the teams traded a run with Elon getting a solo home run and Edgmon having an RBI single to score
Nathan Martinez to bring the score to 7-4.
Drew Dawson entered with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning and allowed just one base runner of the five he faced and struck out three of them.
At the plate, the Bucs tied their season-high in hits with 11 on the day. Tuupo, Speirs, Wolfley and Edgmon each had two. Tuupo had three RBIs to lead the team and Edgmon added two. Barile and Pringle both had one courtesy of their solo home runs.
Titus Von Kapff started the game and threw the first 4.1 innings. He allowed two earned runs and six hits in the start.
Tyler Henshaw earned the win was the first out of the bullpen and threw 3.1, allowing just three hits and two earned runs. Dawson picked up the save in the outing.
The series is scheduled to continue Saturday morning with first pitch now to be at 11 a.m. against Elon at Nielsen Field @ CSU Ballpark. Sunday's game remains on schedule for 1 p.m. with the action to be available live on ESPN+.
