February 27, 2000

Jacksonville, Fla. - Jacksonville (9-4) freshman Chad Hauseman (Pottstown, Penn.) laced a two-out, two RBI double down the leftfield line in the bottom of the ninth to complete a five-run rally by the Dolphins in their 9-8 victory over The Citadel (6-3) Sunday afternoon at Alexander Brest Field.  With the victory, the Dolphins ran their winning streak to four, and they have now won five of their last six.

Trailing 8-4 heading to the bottom of the ninth, Jacksonville got a lead-off walk from sophomore pinch-hitter Josh Johnson (Jacksonville, Fla.), followed by a single to right by senior Josh Hurrell (Lincoln, Neb.).  With two men on and nobody out, sophomore Troy Veleber (Jacksonville, Fla.) got the Dolphins with in three runs with an RBI double down the line in left.  After a Bulldog pitching change, senior John Vollstedt (Jacksonville, Fla.) walked to load the bases for sophomore Chad Oliva (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.).  Oliva, who had gone hitless in his previous four at-bats, single to right field, scoring Veleber and Hurrell.  With the hit, Oliva cut The Citadel lead to one and extended his hitting streak to six games.  With Oliva at first and Vollstedt at third, the next two Dolphin batters popped up for the first and second outs of the inning, setting up Hauseman for the heroics.

Prior to the stirring ninth inning rally by the Dolphins, The Citadel opened the game with a pair of runs in the first off Jacksonville's freshman starter Ryan Courson (North Fort Myers, Fla.).  JU took the lead in the bottom half of the second on an RBI single by junior Dale Johnson (Macclenny, Fla.) and a three-run home run by Hurrell, his second of the season.  Leading 4-2, Courson pitched well over the next three innings, allowing just a single run in the fourth, before running into trouble in the sixth.   The Bulldogs reclaimed the lead at 6-4 in their half of the sixth on an RBI double by starting pitcher Dallas McPherson and a two-run home run by David Griffin (1).

After sophomore reliever Jason Ryals (Gainesville, Fla.) held The Citadel in check in the seventh, the Bulldogs scored two in the eighth on a two-run home run by Jay Morgan (1).  The runs were the first earned runs Ryals has allowed in four appearances and 10.2 innings of work this season.  JU went quietly in the bottom half of the eighth and Ryals pitched a scoreless top of the ninth to set up the ninth inning Dolphin rally.

Leading the way for the Dolphins at the plate were Veleber with three hits in five at-bats, and Nover, junior Jami Rodgers (Macclenny, Fla.) and Hurrell with two hits apiece.   Hurrell collected a season-high three RBI in the game, while Oliva and Hauseman each had two.  Ryals (2-0) picked up the win for the Dolphins while Jay Morgan (0-1) took the loss for The Citadel.  The Dolphins are now 6-3 all-time versus the Citadel, 3-0 under Head Coach Terry Alexander.

The Dolphins will return to action on Monday afternoon when they host Xavier at 3:30 PM.