CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern's bats exploded on Friday afternoon as the Buccaneers connected on a season-high 12 extra base hits to even the series with visiting Gardner-Webb at the CSU Ballpark, 18-2.

Seven Buccaneers (17-17, 6-8) combined for nine doubles and Nate Blanchard and Chris Singleton both connected on solo home runs to pace the CSU offensive effort that led the Bucs to a season-high 24 hit performance in the contest. Cole German added an RBI triple in the bottom of the fourth and drove in a team-high four RBI in the CSU win.

Every single starter in the CSU lineup recorded a hit in the contest with eight of the nine picking up multi-hit games paced by four hit performances by both Singleton and Blanchard. Singleton went 4-for-5 from the plate with four runs scored, two doubles, and a solo home run, while Blanchard added a 4-for-5 game with three runs scored to go with his home run to lead off the fifth inning.

Tyler Weekley (3-2) was the recipient of the CSU offense in picking up his third win of the season. Weekley retired 14 of the first 15 batters he faced after entering the game with one out in the top of the third, and the redshirt sophomore held Gardner-Webb hitless until the seventh inning with a dominant turn on the rubber. He finished with 5.2 innings pitched, allowing three hits while striking out four.

GWU's Bradley Hallman (3-3) suffered the loss going 5.0 innings and allowing 11 hits and five runs while striking out one. The GWU bullpen allowed 14 runs (12 earned) over the final four innings and did not record a strikeout.

The Bucs got on board early in the bottom of the first as Brandon Gragilla connected on the first of his two doubles in the contest with a drive down the right field line scoring Aaron Miller.

GWU took the lead in the top of the second with a pair of runs scored off of CSU starter Kyle Dyson. The Runnin' Bulldogs opened the inning with four consecutive singles with Chandler Redmond and Gage Parham both driving in runs to give GWU the 2-1 lead.

German put the Bucs back in the lead in the bottom of the fourth with a two-out triple to right field. Mike Sconzo and Singleton both came around to score on the play to give CSU the 3-2 advantage.

Blanchard and Singleton's solo home runs led off the bottom of the fifth and the sixth innings, while Jason Miller added an RBI single in the sixth to extend the Bucs' lead to 6-2.

The Bucs' offense exploded over the final two innings as CSU sent 20 batters to plate in the seventh and eighth innings, scoring 12 runs to close out the contest.

RBI doubles by German and Gragilla highlighted the five-run seventh inning. Singleton and Cody Smith both connected on run-scoring doubles in the Bucs' seven-run eighth inning to close out the contest.

Tyler Pickard gave up a one-out double in the top of the ninth before setting down the side getting Chase Lane swinging and Chris Clary out on a popup to Aaron Miller at first to close out the contest.

Up Next
Charleston Southern and Gardner-Webb close out the weekend series tomorrow afternoon at the CSU Ballpark. First pitch in the rubber match is set for 2 p.m.

Projected Pitching Matchup
Charleston Southern has not announced a starter for Saturday afternoon as of yet. Gardner-Webb is expected to start RHP Landon Mitchell (3-2, 7.62 ERA).