Bulldogs need strong finish

At one time, a season-ending series with Presbyterian College looked like a good tune-up for The Citadel baseball team heading into the Southern Conference Tournament.

But now, after a disastrous month for the Bulldogs, the PC series looks like a final chance to get something, anything, going before the tournament starts next Tuesday at Riley Park.

A 10-2 loss at South Carolina on Tuesday dropped the Bulldogs' record to 3-14 over the last month, a slide that sent them from a tie for second place in the SoCon to the No. 8 seed for the tournament.

And at 25-27 overall, The Citadel needs a three-game sweep of the Blue Hose starting today at Riley Park to avoid its first losing record in the regular season since 2005, and just its third losing regular season in coach Fred Jordan's 17 years.

"We definitely need to get our bats going, pitching going, defense, everything," said junior right fielder Sonny Meade. "We need to get a lot of momentum going into the tournament. Hopefully, we can play well and get our confidence back up.

"I think we need a sweep for the momentum, and that's what we're trying for."

Senior center fielder Chris Swauger said the team has been "shaken" by its recent losing skid, one of the worst the Bulldogs have endured under Jordan. His 1994 team dropped 9 of 10 games and 16 of 19, finished the season 25-31, and then won five in a row and six of seven to claim the SoCon Tournament and an NCAA play-in series to make the NCAA regionals.

"Confidence is everything in this game," Swauger said. "And if we can regain our confidence heading into the tournament, that's huge. That's been our goal since the start of practice this week, to get our confidence back, because we have been shaken a little bit. We've got to start building toward next week."

The Bulldogs have a lot building to do. Over the last 17 games, they've been outscored 148-84, and have hit .269 compared with opponents' .356. The staff earned-run average for that stretch was a humbling 8.36.

"We need to have a successful weekend," Jordan said. "We need to pitch, hit and defend consistently in all three games. Wins and losses will take care of themselves."

Presbyterian is 13-37 under coach fourth-year coach Elton Pollock, a 1995 PC graduate who is overseeing the Blue Hose' transition from NCAA Division II to Division I this season. Senior catcher William Bolchoz is a Bishop England High School product who was a Citadel redshirt in 2004 when the Bulldogs last won the SoCon Tournament.

Bolchoz is batting .255 with four homers and 17 runs batted in for the Blue Hose, who had lost their last 11 games until beating Charleston Southern on Wednesday, and are 1-3 against SoCon teams this season, with a win over Wofford and losses to Furman and Wofford.

Reach Jeff Hartsell at jhartsell@postandcourier.com.

, and check out the Citadel blog at charleston.net/blogs/bulldog_bites.

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