BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.- Chandler Redmond belted a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Gardner-Webb past Charleston Southern in Friday night's Big South Conference series opener.

Gardner-Webb (27-22, 12-10 Big South) put two runners on immediately in the bottom of the ninth, as Mickey Dugan and Corey Howard connected with back-to-back singles off of Charleston Southern (15-32, 6-16 Big South) reliever Cody Smith.
 
Redmond then stepped up to the plate, blasting the first pitch he saw well over the center field fence to give the Runnin' Bulldogs the walk-off victory.
 
It was Redmond's 14th home run of 2018, which leads all Big South batters.
 
The Buccaneers jumped out to an initial 2-0 lead in the top of the first, plating runs on consecutive RBI singles from Christian Maggio and Jason Miller.
 
The 'Dogs got one run back in the bottom half of the inning as Howard belted a RBI single up the middle, scoring Mason Fox, who led off the frame with a base hit through the left side.
 
GWU tied the game in the bottom of the third on RBI groundout by Howard that allowed Dugan, who led off with a base knock, to score from third base.
 
Howard drove in another run in the bottom of the fourth to give Gardner-Webb a 3-2 lead, this time with a sacrifice fly ball to deep center field that allowed Ben LaSpaluto to cross home plate safely.
 
GWU pushed its lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning on a solo home run to right field by Justin Kunz, his third long ball of the season.
 
Charleston Southern began to rally in the top of the sixth inning.  Maggio drove in his second run of the evening on a double to right field to pull the Bucs within one run, and CSU tied the game in the eighth on a RBI double down the right field line by Aaron Miller.
 
Wil Sellers (4-1) earned the win on the mound for the Diamond 'Dogs, working the final 1.1 innings, allowing no one to reach base with one strikeout.  Bradley Hallman lasted 7.1 innings in the start, allowing three earned runs on eight base hits with seven strikeouts.  Tyler Johnson recorded one out in the eighth, allowing one base hit while fanning one batter.
 
Smith (1-1) took the loss for Charleston Southern, recording no outs while surrendering three runs on three hits in the ninth.  Evan Nations lasted 3.2 innings in the start, allowing two earned runs to score on seven base hits with a pair of strikeouts.  Daniel Johnson worked 4.1 innings of relief, allowing one run on three hits while fanning four batters.
 
GWU had 13 base hits on the evening, paced by LaSpaluto, who was 3-for-4 at the dish.  Howard was 2-for-4 with three RBI, while Redmond finished the night going 1-for-4, with a home run and three RBI.
 
The Buccaneers had nine base hits, with Maggio (3-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI) leading that effort.
 
Both teams will square off again tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 pm at Bill Masters Field at John Henry Moss Stadium.  Prior to the game, the senior class of Mickey Dugan, Bradley Hallman, JD Huggins, and Wil Sellers for their contributions to the program.