CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern rallied twice from a pair of big early deficits to sweep an afternoon doubleheader and series from visiting Chicago State on Saturday. The Bucs rallied from a 6-0 deficit to win the opener 10-8 and bounced back from a five-run margin to win the nightcap, 12-11. 

CSU improves to 3-0 for the second consecutive year, while Chicago State falls to 0-3. The sweep is CSU's second straight to open a season. The Bucs swept Villanova last season. 

The Buccaneers scored all 22 runs of their runs on the day from the fifth inning on, including belting three late home runs to roar back to win the opener. CSU's bullpen picked up both wins and senior Austin Weekley grabbed his CSU record 20th career save.

The Bucs trailed for all but four innings on the day, but wore down the Cougars' bullpen in both games to complete the wild sweep.

"I'm proud of our guys, Chicago State played very hard, but so did we," CSU head coach Stuart Lake said. "We showed a lot of toughness. It is so difficult to win two games in one day, much less three in just under 24 hours."

Game 1 – Charleston Southern 10, Chicago State 8

Second baseman Nate Blanchard hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning to spark a CSU rally from 6-0 down for a 10-8 win. Brian Dye gave the Bucs the lead with a pinch-hit home run in the ninth to cap the rally. 

CSU overcame three early errors and six walks in the opener. Starter Dylan Lee struck out seven, but walked three and allowed six earned runs.  

"We're better than some of the mistakes we made," Lake added. "We put our pitchers in tough situations. I felt like we threw a lot of strikes and I feel like we'll be very good on the mound when it's all said and done." 

Senior Kyle McDorman (WP, 1-0) looked strong in two innings of work to pick up the win. He combined with Weekley to shutout the Cougars over the final three innings. Weekley struck out the final two batters he faced to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth. 

Chicago State's Julian Russell hit a two-run home run in the fourth, which was the big blow for the Cougars. Second baseman Mattingly Romanin added a 3-for-5 day and scored twice. 

The Bucs' speed got their offense started. Chris Singleton and Cole Murphy drew back-to-back walks in the fifth, scoring on an infield single by Brandon Burris to start the rally. 

DH Andrew Widell led off the sixth with solo home run to jumpstart CSU's offensive fireworks.  
Chicago State outhit the Bucs, 13-8. 

Game 2 – Charleston Southern 12, Chicago State 11

Dye was 2-for-3 with three RBI as the Bucs rallied from two five-run deficits for the wild 12-11 win.His two-run single in the fifth started the Bucs rally as CSU cut the lead to one with four runs in the fifth. He added an infield single in the seventh, which turned out to be the winning run. 

"The guys give him a hard time sometimes, but he just really works on hitting," Lake said of Dye, who was 3-for-4 on the day with five RBI. "I'm excited about his potential and what he can do in different roles, like today he gave us a big hit as a pinch hitter, then followed with a quality start (as DH)."

After the Cougars put up four more runs to extend their lead to 9-5 in the sixth, the Bucs took advantage of a Chicago State collapse in the bottom half of the frame. The Cougars committed three errors and allowed two runs on wild pitches as CSU scored seven times – five unearned runs - in the inning. 

Cole Murphy and Chase Hannifin each had an RBI single in the inning. Kevin Hickey had a double to get the onslaught started, but a pair of dropped pop-ups kept the rally going for CSU.

Sophomore Wil Hartsell (WP, 1-0) held Chicago State scoreless over the final 2.1 innings for the win. 

Centerfielder Jared Patterson and left fielder Evan Davis both had three hits for Chicago State. Both teams had 14 hits. 

Hannifin was the first Buc with four hits in a game this season, going 4-for-5 with an RBI and scoring twice. 

CSU returns to action on Wednesday with its first road trip of the season. The Bucs play at Clemson at 4 p.m.

-CSU-