ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop baseball captured the opening game of a three-game series against Gardner-Webb with a 7-6 victory in 10 innings behind a walk-off from
Tyler Halstead, Friday evening at The Winthrop Ballpark.
Winthrop improves to 24-18 on the year and 11-5 in the Big South while Gardner-Webb falls to 22-23 overall and 9-10 in the league. The two teams are back in action on Saturday at 3 p.m. in game two of the series.
In the bottom of the 10
th the Eagles loaded the bases with no outs. Winthrop tried to score the winning run on a wild pitch, but
Anthony Paulsen was thrown out at the plate as the other runners moved over. After
Babe Thomas was intentionally walked after the wild pitch made it a 2-1 count, Halstead lifted the Eagles to victory with the walk-off single to center.
The Eagles tied the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the ninth as Halstead led off the inning with a single. After being sacrificed to second by
Brandon Fite,
Scout McFalls came through with a pinch-hit RBI single to center.
Trailing 2-0 in the fourth, the Eagles pushed four runs a cross that started with an RBI single by
Hunter Lipscomb. Three batters later, Fite homered to right field for a three-run shot. It was his third home run of the year.
Gardner-Webb had its own four-run inning as it took the lead back in the top of the seventh. All four runs came with two outs as Danny Sullivan hit a two-run blast to left followed by a solo shot from Chandler Redmond. The fourth run came on an error as Jacob Whitley scored from second.
Matthew Mulkey's RBI double with one out in the bottom of the seventh pulled the Eagles within a run at 6-5, but he was stranded at second as
Grant English popped up and
Anthony Paulsen struck out.
Zach Peek earned the win for the Eagles as he tossed 3.1 innings of relief as he didn't allow a run, gave up one hit and struck out two as he's now 3-1.
Reece Green started the game and went 6.2 innings allowing six runs (five earned) on 12 hits with no walks and six strikeouts.
Mulkey,
Mitch Spires, Lipscomb, Halstead and Fite each finished with two hits. Paulsen had one hit to extend his streak of games reaching base to 23 and Lipscomb has now reached in 21 straight. Paulsen and
Babe Thomas extended their hitting streaks to nine straight.
Jarrett Thompson took the loss as he tossed two innings in relief allowing two runs on four hits and is now 3-2.
