CHARLESTON, S.C. – Nick Orvin went 3-for-5 and drove in two runs in the bottom of the eighth while Drew Mahaffey struck out five of the final six Falcon batters to seal the Bulldog victory as The Citadel defeated Air Force, 5-2, in front of 403 at Riley Park Thursday night.

Wes Wrenn (3-1) controlled the game in earning his third win of the season as he held the meat of the Falcon line-up to just one hit in 16 at bats in the game. Drew Mahaffey (1) threw the final 1.2 innings, striking out five of the six batters he faced, in earning his first save of the year. Wrenn allowed two runs on six hits in his 7.1 innings on the mound, striking out five and walking one.

Air Force (8-14) was held to just two runs on seven hits in the game while the Bulldogs (11-9) scored five runs on 12 hits. Casey Allen (0-2) took the loss for the Falcons after allowing three runs on 10 hits in 6.1 innings on the mound, giving up a solo home run to Trey Thomas in the sixth inning. That shot over the left field wall gave the Bulldogs the 2-0 advantage.

An RBI single by Sonny Meade put the Bulldogs on top in the bottom of the third, scoring Orvin from second. Another RBI single by Meade in the seventh extended the lead to a 3-0 Bulldog advantage.

Air Force pulled within one in the top of the eighth when back-to-back RBI singles by the Falcons cut the Bulldog lead to 3-2. However, Mahaffey entered the game and struck out the final two batters of the inning to squash the Falcon threat.

Orvin drove in two runs in the bottom half of the inning with runners on first and third to add a couple of insurance runs for The Citadel.

The two teams will square off in the second game of the four-game series on Friday, March 27 at Riley Park. First pitch for that game has been moved up to a 2 p.m. start to avoid inclement weather that is predicted to roll into the Charleston area late Friday.

For complete coverage of Bulldog Baseball, please visit the official home of The Citadel Athletics at CitadelSports.com.