Box Score
ROCK HILL, SC – Brad Felder's two-run homer off Ken Monteith in the top of the 11th inning lifted The Citadel Bulldogs to a 10-8 victory over the Winthrop Eagles on Wednesday evening at The Winthrop Ballpark.
The Eagles fall to 13-15 on the season, while the Bulldogs improve to 22-9 overall.
The homer by Felder capped off a 4-for-5 performance on the evening to go along with his team-high two RBI.
“We had plenty of opportunities to win the game tonight,” said head coach Joe Hudak. “We got shutout in the last six innings. We just aren't getting it done.”
Monteith (0-1) took the loss for Winthrop after facing two batters in the 11th inning and allowed two runs on two hits. Matt Reifsnider (1-0) hurled 6.1 scoreless innings of relief to pick up the victory for The Citadel on just five hits, no walks and three strikeouts.
The Bulldogs jumped ahead 1-0 in the top of the first on Matt Simonelli's RBI single to left center field, but the Eagles responded to take a 2-1 in their half of the first on a two RBI homer by Chas Crane to right field. It was his fourth home run of the season.
Winthrop added another run in the second to increase its lead to 3-1 when Sean Sullivan scored on a wild pitch by Austin Pritcher. Sullivan led off the inning with a walk.
The Citadel then scored five runs in the top of the fifth to take a 6-3 lead over the Eagles. Simonelli, Grant Richards, Justin Mackert, Kyle Jordan and David Greene all had an RBI in the inning for the Bulldogs.
The Eagles would re-take the lead at 8-6 after driving in five runs of their own in the bottom-half of the fifth. The inning was highlighted by Matt Thielepape's two-run homer over the right center field fence bringing home Crane. Crane contributed an RBI double prior to the long ball by Thielepape. Tyler Cook and Eddie Rohan also posted an RBI in the fifth.
The Citadel tied the game at 8-8 in the seventh inning on Jordan's two RBI single to center field that plated Mackert and Richards. Richards reached on an error by Tyler Donovan and Mackert doubled to left center field.
Crane and Thielepape both had three hits apiece for Winthrop offensively, while Crane drove in a team-best three RBI.
“We had great effort tonight, but it wasn't enough,” Hudak added.
Cook increased his hitting streak to 14 games with a double in the fifth inning. Crane also extended his hit streak to 11 games in the contest.
The Eagles will be back in action on Friday, Apr. 9 as they travel to Charleston, SC to face the Charleston Southern Buccaneers at 2 p.m. in the first game of a three-game Big South Conference series.
