April 17, 2009

- Coming Up This Weekend
The Citadel returns to Southern Conference action this weekend as the Bulldogs open a three-game SoCon series at UNC Greensboro starting Friday, April 17 at 7 p.m. The final two games of the series on Saturday and Sunday will be broadcast on SportsRadio 1450AM in Charleston and on Bulldog Insider at CitadelSports.com.

- Scouting UNC Greensboro
UNC Greensboro enters this weekend’s series against The Citadel with a 12-18 record and a 2-11 mark in Southern Conference play but the Spartans have been hot lately, winning four of their last five. That stretch includes UNCG’s two wins over Wofford last weekend, the first two conference wins for the Spartans this season. UNCG is hitting .268 this season and is led by Ed Jayjack’s .340 average as he also leads the team in home runs with four.

The Spartan pitching staff has a 7.07 ERA with Warren Slack leading the way with a 3.97 ERA and a 3-0 record. Slack could be in the mix to start either Saturday or Sunday’s game. Friday’s projected starter, Greg Martin, has a 1-5 record and a 6.86 ERA this season but has only walked seven batters on the year.

- Series History
The Citadel and UNC Greensboro have met on the diamond 41 times to date with the Bulldogs holding a 23-18 advantage in the all-time series. The Citadel leads the series in games played in Greensboro with a slight 8-7 advantage. UNC Greensboro took two of the three games from The Citadel last year with the Bulldogs pulling out an 8-7 win in the final game to prevent the series sweep.

- Bulldogs Sweep South Carolina for First Time Since 1961
With The Citadel’s 5-3 win over South Carolina in 11 innings on April 15, the Bulldogs clinched the team’s first series sweep over the Gamecocks since the 1961 season. The Citadel had previously beaten South Carolina, 12-5, on March 31 in Charleston.

- Chris McGuiness Leads Nation in Walks, Nationally Ranked in On Base Percentage
Chris McGuiness was issued a career-high four walks in The Citadel’s 5-3 win in 11 innings over South Carolina on April 15, vauling the junior into the national lead in walks. McGuiness enters this weekend’s games at UNC Greensboro with 47 walks this season, a mark that already places him tied for 10th in school history for walks in a season. McGuiness passed New Mexico State’s Richard Stout, who has 45 walks this year. New Mexico State did not play Wednesday night.

The Citadel school record for walks in a season is 71 set by Chip Cannon in 2004. Only 30 games into the 56-game schedule for the Bulldogs, McGuiness needs only eight more walks to reach the school’s top-10 list for walks in a season. Chris Morris, a former Bulldog and current assistant coach at the College of Charleston, is ranked 10th with 47 walks.

McGuiness’ high number of walks, along with his 48 hits this year, place the junior fourth in the nation with a .565 on base percentage.

- Sonny Meade, Bryan Altman, Bulldogs Nationally Ranked in Hits
Entering this weekend’s games at UNC Greensboro, Sonny Meade and Bryan Altman are ranked in the top 10 in the nation in hits this season. Those two offensive leaders, along with a strong Bulldog line-up, has The Citadel as a team ranked 10th in the nation in hits.

Meade has 65 hits this season, ranking him tied for third in the nation with Braeden Riley of Sam Houston State. New Mexico’s Mike Brownstein leads the nation with 67 hits while East Carolina’s Trent Whitehead is second wiht 66 hits. Altman ranks sixth in the nation with 61 hits this season.

- Bulldogs Set Record for Extra-Inning Games Played in a Season
With The Citadel's 11-inning game at South Carolina on April 15, the Bulldogs set a school record as they entered their seventh extra-inning game of the season. Prior to this year, the most extra-inning games the Bulldogs had played in was six. That record was set in 2007 and matched in 2008.

- Bulldogs Playing Five Games in Five Days, Eight games in Nine Days in Grueling Schedule
The Citadel baseball team is in the middle of a grueling schedule as the Bulldogs just finished playing five games in five days in a stretch that concluded with a 5-3, 11-inning win on Wednesday at South Carolina. What did not end on Wednesday was the team's stretch of eight games in nine days - that stretch is scheduled to conclude on Sunday at UNC Greensboro.

Mother Nature gave the Bulldogs a brief respite in that stretch. The Citadel was scheduled to play Charleston Southern on Monday, April 13 in a game that was added to the schedule because of cancellations earlier in the season. Ironically enough, that game was also rained out and postponed to a later date to be announced. If not for that postponement, The Citadel would have played six games in five days and nine games in nine days.

- Richard Jones Ties School Record with Three Home runs in Sunday Game at Davidson
Richard Jones tied a school record three home runs in The Citadel’s 12-5 win at Davidson on Sunday, April 12. The junior from Sumter, S.C. matched the record performance of three home runs that Garrick Haltiwanger notched at Coastal Carolina on March 3, 1994. Jones ended the game with a 3-for-5 performance with six RBI and three runs scored.

- Crim, Wojciechowski Tie Personal Best Strikeout Marks at Davidson
Effective pitching was a key factor in The Citadel's Southern Conference series win at Davidson on April 11-12. In the rubber game on Sunday, April 12, LHP Matt Crim matched a career-high eight strikeouts in seven innings pitched as he earned his third win of the season. In the second game of a doubleheader the day before, RHP Asher Wojciechowski tied a personal best mark with 10 strikeouts in 7.0 innings pitched.

- Drew Mahaffey Named Southern Conference Pitcher of the Month for March
After dominating the mound in the month of March, Drew Mahaffey was named the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Month. Mahaffey posted a 1-0 record and four saves in eight appearances. During the month, Mahaffey struck out 28 batters in 14.1 innings pitched, averaging almost two strikeouts per inning, and held opposing batters to a .160 batting average.

Mahaffey did now allow a walk in the final 13.0 innings pitched (out of 14.1 total) of the month and allowed one three runs on eight hits with all three runs coming against Southern Conference opponents. His best outing came against No. 28 South Carolina on March 31, when he struck out six out of the nine batters faced while not allowing a hit as he collected his fourth save of the month.

- Drew Mahaffey Retires 37 of Last 47 Batters, 25 on K’s
The Citadel sophomore Drew Mahaffey has shut down batters since The Citadel's series against Air Force, retiring 40 of the last 50 batters he has faced. Of those 40 batters retired, 27 have been sent back to the dugout on strikeouts. Opposing batters have a .146 batting average as Mahaffey has allowed only seven hits, no earned runs and no walks in 13.1 innings pitched, racking up five saves in nine appearances. Mahaffey is averaging over 2.02 strikeouts per inning in that stretch.

Dating back to The Citadel’s March 6 game against Elon, Mahaffey has not walked a batter in 20.0 consecutive innings.

- Sonny Meade Gets 300th Career Hit vs. Wofford
With his three-run double against Wofford on Friday, April 3, Sonny Meade recorded his 300th career hit. Meade became just the third person in school history and eighth person in SoCon history to record 300-plus career hits. The last Southern Conference player to reach 300 hits was The Citadel's Chris Swauger (2005-08), who achieved the feat last season. Philip Hartig (1998-01) holds The Citadel and SoCon record for career hits with 360. Meade has 316 career hits entering this weekend’s games at UNC Greensboro.

- Chris McGuiness Named Southern Conference Player of the Week
Chris McGuiness batted .467 in the week ending April 5 in a 7-for-15 performance while being walked six times and getting hit by a pitch once. Four of his seven hits were home runs, including two in Friday’s 13-3 win over Wofford. McGuiness hit a home run in three consecutive games last week and notched 11 RBI while scoring seven runs. Five of his seven hits were extra-base hits as he added double to his credit and had a slugging percentage of 1.333.

- Drew Mahaffey, Fred Jordan Named to College Baseball Foundation’s National All-Star Line-up for Week Six
Following The Citadel’s four-game sweep of Air Force and a win over Charleston Southern, The Citadel’s Drew Mahaffey and Fred Jordan were named to the College Baseball Foundation’s Week Six National All-Star Line-up. The College Baseball Foundation recognizes the top players and coaches from across the nation each week.

Mahaffey made three appearances last week in victories over Air Force.  The sophomore left-handed reliever pitched 3.2 innings and recorded three saves.  He held the Falcons scoreless, did not issue a walk and struck out 9 of the 13 batters he faced.  He gave up just two hits and retired 11 batters for the week.

Sunday’s victory marked head coach Fred Jordan’s 600th career win as he became the fastest coach to reach 600 wins in Southern Conference history, doing so in less than 18 full seasons.

- Drew Mahaffey Named SoCon Pitcher of the Week
Drew Mahaffey was named the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week on March 30 after dominating on the mound in three relief appearances against Air Force.

Mahaffey made three appearances that week in victories over Air Force.  The sophomore left-handed reliever pitched 3.2 innings and recorded three saves.  He held the Falcons scoreless, did not issue a walk and struck out nine of the 13 batters he faced.  He gave up just two hits and retired 11 batters for the week.

- Sonny Meade in Top-10 in Career Hits, Total Bases at The Citadel
Senior Sonny Meade is quickly climbing the charts of The Citadel’s all-time career hits list this season. After starting the year listed 10th, Meade has passed Chris Swauger for second in the record books with 316 career hits entering this weekend’s game at UNC Greensboro.

Meade has also broken into the career charts in total bases. Entering this week’s game at South Carolina, Meade is ranked third with 432 career total bases.