Charleston, S.C. – Jaylen Jones and Brody Raleigh belted fifth-inning home runs as Western Carolina carried a 3-1 lead late into its Southern Conference series-opener at The Citadel on Friday evening. However, three unanswered runs, including a bases-loaded, walk-off single, guided the Bulldogs to the 4-3 victory at Joseph Riley Park.
 
The Citadel (11-13, 2-2 SoCon) used a walk and a trio of two-out singles to rally for the come-from-behind victory, spoiling the strong start by Carter Burnette. The sophomore right-hander did not factor into the decision despite seven solid innings, limiting the Bulldogs to one unearned run, while scattering four base hits and working around three walks and a pair of HBPs with six strikeouts.
 
The home squad used a two-spot in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game before piecing together the two-out rally in the ninth for the game-winning run.
 
The Catamounts were held to just six combined base hits, spread between six different players, with Jones (1-for-3) reaching twice with a walk and a solo home run and Raleigh (1-for-4) hitting the go-ahead, two-run homer in the fifth inning. Trent Turner (1-for-3) also reached twice with a single and a walk.
 
The Citadel had four players collect two-hit games with Christian Stratis (2-for-3), Matthew Lively (2-for-4), and TJ Anderson (2-for-5), each collecting doubles. Jayden Williams (2-for-4) singled twice and scored three of the four Bulldog runs. Phillips Daniels walked twice.
 
Behind Burnette, WCU used three relievers, with James Fordham (2-2) saddled with the loss after tossing 1.1 relief innings. Fordham recorded the first two outs of the ninth inning before being lifted after allowing a pair of singles. Owen Austin issued a walk to load the bases before Anderson's walk-off single into right field plated the game-winning run.
 
Mason Snyder also tossed a third of an inning, touched for two runs – one earned – coming on two base hits.
 
Bulldog starter Will Holmes struck out five over five innings, tagged for three runs on six hits, including both WCU home runs. Reliever Andrew Buffkin (2-0) tossed four hitless, scoreless innings out of the bullpen, striking out five against one walk to earn the victory.
 
The series continues on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Riley Park, live on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats online at CatamountSports.com.