CHARLESTON – Charleston Southern Baseball opened their conference weekend series against Gardner-Webb on Friday Night with a 7-5 thrilling victory which marked their Alumni Weekend sponsored by Home Telecom. The victory continues the streak of the Buccaneers claiming the series opener from conference opponents this season in each of the four weekends.
 
"It was just a really good win," said Head Coach Marc MacMillan following the victory. "That's the bottom line, we have to come out tomorrow for #SWINGDAY and be ready to fight again, but we are happy with tonight."
 
The Buccaneers were able to get on the board in the first inning courtesy of a solo home run from Christian Bauman. The Runnin' Bulldogs were able to get their first runs in the second inning scoring a pair and taking a 2-1 lead.
 
The visitors' lead did not last for long as Charleston Southern put a four-spot in the bottom of the second. Each of the runs were scored off hits with a single RBI. Lucas Pringle got the action started with a double to right center and was brought home on an Evann Long single. Following JJ Rivera drawing a walk, Alex Urlaub sent a single to center to score Long and move Rivera up a base. Cade Conway then had a single that scored Rivera and everyone moved up an extra base on the throw. The final run was scored on a sacrifice fly hit by Buaman to put them ahead at 5-2.
 
Gardner-Webb got a pair of runs back in the 3^rd off a two-run homer just barely over to the wall in right field to cut their deficit to just a run at 5-4. The teams were then unable to score for their next three innings to the plate.
 
Charleston Southern was able to score in the 6^th and extend their lead to 7-4. Long led the inning off by getting hit by a pitch and moved to third on a double by Rivera. Conway then delivered a single just out of the reach of the second baseman to clear the bases and score each of the runners.
 
Gardner-Webb was able to get a run back in the 8^th, but Evan Truitt was able to masterfully work through the Runnin' Bulldogs lineup to avoid any extra damage.
 
Nick Timpanelli had the start on the mound for the Buccaneers and went for a career-long on the mound as he threw 5.2 innings and 104 total pitches. He struck out six batters and allowed just two earned runs and two walks during his outing. Evan Truitt then came out for the final 3.1 innings and had one of his best outings of the year as well. He allowed just two hits during his time on the mound and saw one unearned run score.
 
Conway led the team in hitting as he finished with three hits and three RBIs in the game. Long and Urlaub each added two hits in the game while Bauman, Miller, Pringle and Rivera had one apiece. Bauman had two RBIs with Long and Urlaub each knocking in a run as well.
 
The second game of the series is scheduled for Saturday, April 13 at 1:30 p.m. from Nielsen Field at CSU Ballpark.