GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) baseball team split a doubleheader on Sunday against The Citadel, falling 8-7 in game one before dominating game two 18-3 in seven innings, to close out a three-game series in The Southern Conference (SoCon) at UNCG Baseball Stadium.

The Citadel ultimately prevailed in the series after winning Friday's opener, 8-7. At 8-7 with a .533 winning percentage in league play, UNCG is now fifth in the conference with six SoCon games remaining. The Bulldogs moved to 9-6 (.600) in the SoCon and are now tied for second with Samford.

GAME ONE: THE CITADEL 8, UNCG 7
Parker Wight put the Spartans in the score column first during the opening frame when his triple off the wall in right scored Jeremy Wolf from third. In the next at-bat, Branton Jernigan grounded out to second for an RBI when Wight ran home from third. After one stanza, UNCG was leading 2-0.

The Citadel cut UNCG's lead in half, 2-1, in the second inning when Matthew Lively doubled to the wall in left, which scored Thomas Rollauer.

TJ Anderson tied the game, 2-2, for The Citadel in the top of the third with a solo home run to right-center.

The Bulldogs took the lead in the fourth inning when Robbie Lane blooped a single into shallow right to send Anthony Hausner home. The Citadel then scored two more runs when Garrett Dill's sacrifice bunt, which moved runners over to second and third, baited an off-target throw wide of third and into foul territory, resulting in two runs. The eventual four-run and four-hit top of the fourth concluded with a double falling just inside the right-field foul line for Dill to cross the plate from third and make it 6-2.

UNCG scored one run in the next half inning when Luke Jenkins singled with one out and later scored from third on a sacrifice fly. Tyler Steele batted the ball deep to left that scored Jenkins to cut the deficit to three, 6-3.

Jacob Budzik helped the Spartans continue to chip away at the Bulldogs' lead when he skipped a single past The Citadel's third baseman, which allowed Branton Jernigan to score from second and make it 6-4.

The Citadel pushed its lead back to three, 7-4, in the eighth inning when Anderson lined a single into right, allowing Aryan Patel to score from second. Travis Elliott then hit a sacrifice fly to center, which scored Phillips Daniels and made it 8-4.

The Spartans mounted a rally in the bottom of the ninth and pushed three runs across thanks to a pinch-hit home run to left by Jack Pokorak. However, UNCG could not manage to get the fourth run it needed to force extras as The Citadel hung on to win by a final score of 8-7.

PITCHING RECORDS:
Andrew Stanley: W, 4-2
Jay Miller: L, 2-5
Anthony Hausner: Save, 6

NOTES:

• Budzik led UNCG with three hits while also scoring one run and having an RBI.
• Pokorak paced the team with three RBI after hitting his first home run of the season in the ninth inning.
• Wolf and Truitt each had two hits.
• Seven different Spartans scored a run.
• UNCG outhit The Citadel, 12-10.

GAME TWO: UNCG 18, THE CITADEL 3 (7 Innings)
UNCG opened the scoring again in the second game with Wolf hitting a solo home run to left in the bottom of the first inning. After one stanza, UNCG was leading 1-0.

The Spartans exploded offensively in the third inning, scoring seven runs on seven hits to extend their lead to 8-0. After Jenkins singled into right to score Jose Perez, the bases loaded and then unloaded when Budzik launched a grand slam off the top of the wall in center field. After UNCG batted around in the inning, Perez came back up to bat and singled to score two more runs, making it 8-0.

The Citadel answered with its only three runs of the game during the top half of the fourth, but UNCG then piled on another nine runs during the bottom half of the inning to take a 17-3 lead. The eight-hit frame was capped with Jenkins hitting a three-run double to left-center.

The Spartans scored one more run in the sixth for safe measure when Truitt doubled to left-center, scoring Wolf from second after he also doubled to leadoff the inning. UNCG hung on there to win 18-3 in the series finale.

PITCHING RECORDS:
Noah Chapman: W, 5-1
Chandler Anderson: L, 1-3

NOTES:

• The Spartans set a single-season record for runs (18) and hits (20).
• Budzik and Jenkins each totaled five RBI to lead the team.
• Truitt led UNCG with four hits in game two.
• Truitt and Wight each scored three times for the Spartans.
• Chapman pitched six innings and had six strikeouts.
• William Greenway pitched a perfect seventh inning to close it out.
• UNCG had the upper hand in hits, 20-4, and strikeouts recorded, 6-5.

RECORDS:
UNCG: 19-26, 8-7 SoCon
CIT: 25-20, 9-6 SoCon

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UP NEXT
The Spartans will head to Birmingham, Alabama, next for a SoCon weekend series against the Samford Bulldogs from Friday to Sunday at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

Game times are scheduled for 5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. CT on Friday, 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT on Saturday and 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT on Sunday.