CHARLESTON, S.C. ­– The number seven-seeded The Citadel Bulldogs defeated the number three-seeded Elon Phoenix 5-2 on Saturday afternoon to eliminate the Phoenix from the 2007 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament.

Elon finishes the season with an overall record of 32-29 while The Citadel moves to 34-26 and will face Wofford in the SoCon Championship game.

The Citadel put its first run on the board in the top of the second inning.  With two outs, Bryan Altman singled and Joe Hoerter was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second before Kyle Jordan singled to centerfield to plate Altman and give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.

In the top of the third inning, Sonny Meade doubled to right centerfield and Zach Brown  walked before Richard Jones singled into right field to send Meade home and put The Citadel ahead 2-0.  With runners on the corners, Elon pitcher Ryan Basham threw one in the dirt, allowing Brown to score from third base and moving Jones to second.  Altman then singled up the middle to push Jones across home plate and put the Bulldogs up 4-0.

The Citadel added another run in the top of seventh inning.  Chance Smith doubled down the left field line before Brown and Trey Thomas earned walks to load the bases.  Elon relief pitcher J.D. Reichenbach got Jones to fly out before a full-count ball gave Matt Arnold a walk to push Smith across home plate, giving the Bulldogs a 5-0 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Mike Melillo singled up the middle to get on base.  Ryan Adams then struck out, but reach first base on a wild pitch before Chase Austin was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs.  Chris Dove then came to the plate and reached a full count.  He fouled off two 3-2 pitches before knocking a hard line drive that was caught by the second baseman to end the Phoenix scoring threat.

Adam Weaver led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a single into left field before Jordy Snyder doubled down the left field line to put runners on second and third.  Pat Irvine then grounded out to the second baseman to plate Weaver and cut the lead to four, 5-1.  With Snyder on third, Drew Davis grounded out to the short stop to send him home and move the score to 5-2.  After Melillo earned a walk, The Citadel pitcher Raymond Copenhaver got Ryan Addison to pop out to end the inning.

Wes Wrenn (6-6) picked up the win after hurling 7.0 innings and giving up two runs on seven hits while striking out two batters.  Matt Reifsnider finished the game for the Bulldogs and picked up the save after throwing 1.0 innings and giving up no runs on one hit while fanning three batters.

Basham (2-2) suffered the loss for the Phoenix after tossing 2.2 innings and giving up four runs on six hits while retiring one batter.  Daniel Britt threw 3.2 innings in relief, giving up one run on two hits while striking out three batters.  Reichenbach tossed 0.1 inning while Chris Vasami threw 2.1 innings to close the game, giving up no runs on two hits.

Jones and Altman led the Bulldogs, each going 2-for-5 from the plate with one run and one RBI.

Austin led Elon at the plate, going 2-for-2 while Addison was 2-for-4 and Snyder was 2-for-4 with one run scored.

-ELON-