ROCK HILL, SC -- The Winthrop baseball team combined for 19 hits and stormed past Gardner-Webb 17-5 in the final game of the Johnny Gill Memorial Monday afternoon at The Winthrop Ballpark.
The win lifted Winthrop to 2-1 on the season, while Gardner-Webb dropped to 1-2 with the loss.
Winthrop hadn’t had 19 or more hits in one game since it recorded 22 against North Carolina A&T on April 24 of last year.
Freshman designated hitter Eddie Rohan and sophomore catcher John Murrian were the ones who had a perfect day at the plate they both went four for four. Rohan, who hit his second home run of the season, led the lineup is RBIs along with senior outfielder/catcher Billy Froehlich as each drove in three runs. Senior outfielder/first baseman Louis Ullrich also homered in the game.
Rohan, batting .600, and sophomore shortstop Kevin Nolan, who is batting .667, lead the Eagles in that department after three games.
Senior left-hander Billy Tinsley got the win as he made his first start as an Eagle allowing six hits, two runs, one walk, while striking out five Bulldogs. Freshman right-hander Matteo D’Angelo, sophomore lefty Dane Yoder and junior right-hander Owen Reid also took the mound for Winthrop in the game.
Gardner-Webb used five pitchers in the game with the loss going to starter Ben Campbell as he gave up nine runs on 10 hits, three walks and three strikeouts.
“It was a good ball game for us obviously, similar to the first game, against Evansville,” said Winthrop head coach Joe Hudak. “We got off to a lead right off the bat. We had some guys who swung the bat very well. I was real pleased with how Billy Tinsley threw. If he can locate and change speed well, he can be effective. He did all of those today. Overall I thought it was a great weekend for us.”
The Eagles batted in eight innings and only failed to score runs in two of those. The blowout started with a four-run first inning.
Gardner-Webb got two runs in the top of the second, but four combined runs scored in the bottom of the second and in the third inning gave the Eagles an 8-2 lead.
Winthrop stretched its lead to 9-2 in the fifth, but a six-run inning was what put the game totally out of hand for Gardner-Webb as the Eagles led 15-2 going into the top of the seventh.
The Bulldogs did score a run in the seventh, but the Eagles came right back to score two more in the bottom of the frame.
Gardner-Webb put the final 19-5 numbers to the board as they got their fourth and fifth runs of the game in the ninth inning.
The Eagles will be back in action on Tuesday as they host St. John’s, who captured the Johnny Gill Memorial Title after beating Evansville 3-1 earlier on Monday, on a single game at 4 p.m.
