Winthrop baseball splits doubleheader with Kennesaw State

Winthrop left-hander Sam Kmiec pitched a complete game shutout to lead the Eagles to a 2-0 victory against Kennesaw State during a Saturday doubleheader in Rock Hill before falling 4-0 in Game 2.

Game 1

There has been more offense for the Eagles this season and in college baseball in general, and the pitchers were in control of Game 1. Kmiec, a junior, the better of the two starters, struck out seven and walked one. Junior Jordan Hillyer also went the distance for the visitors but got the loss. He pitched out of trouble all day and gave up nine hits and three walks while striking out nine.

Anthony Paulsen, who had the first two hits of the game for the Eagles, doubled with two outs in the first but got stranded. Winthrop stranded six runners in scoring position in the first six innings.

The Owls did not get their first hit until the third inning.

Paulsen singled and stole second in the third, but got hit with the throw in the upper body while sliding into the bag. He stayed in the game but was stranded again.

Roger Gonzalez doubled to lead off the Winthrop fourth but again could not advance.

The Eagles broke through in the sixth. Mark Lowrie led off with a single to right. Gonzalez followed with his second straight double, this one into the left field corner to put runners in scoring position. John Menken hit one down the right field line to plate Lowrie and advanced on the throw to the cutoff man at first. Gonzalez stayed at third. Brad Kaczka hit a sharp grounder back to the pitcher, and Gonzalez got nailed trying to score.

Kennesaw State finally got a runner beyond first in the seventh, but Kmiec struck out two in a row with runners on first and second to end the threat.

Justin Motley, who was 2-for-3, got a one-out base hit in the Owls’ eighth and stole second, but Kmiec induced a grounder back to himself and a fly to center to end the inning.

Lowrie walked to lead off the Winthrop eighth, and Gonzalez got his third consecutive hit of the game. Gonzalez was 3-for-4. John Menken sacrifice-bunted both runners up and Brad Kaczka scored pinch-runner Jake Sullivan with a fly to center for a 2-0 lead. Lowrie reached base three times and his spot in the order was responsible for both runs.

Kmiec improved his record to 3-1 and lowered his ERA to 1.75 with his 121-pitch performance. Hillyer threw 120 pitches and fell to 1-1 while lowering his ERA to 2.36.

Game 2

Winthrop could not getting anything going offensively in the second game, as junior hurler Travis Bergen kept their bats silent and they fell 4-0. Bergen recorded the third complete game of the day, second for his squad, and the second shutout. He struck out a career-high 11 against just two walks and surrendered only four hits. He struck out seven of 11 from the second through the fourth inning with his team leading 1-0.

“Today was the day of starting pitching,” said Winthrop coach Tom Riginos. “We kinda hand-cuffed them the first game and they kinda hand-cuffed us the second game. Sometimes you’ve got to give credit to the other pitcher and Bergen did a really good job. That’s why there were so many scouts in the stands.”

Chris McGowan led off the second for Kennesaw State with a double to right-centerfield. With two outs, another double by Jeremy Howell to left scored McGowan for a 1-0 lead. Junior Zach Sightler stranded two in scoring position to escape further damage.

Winthrop got two runners on in the third but Babe Thomas struck out swinging to end the inning.

In the top of the fifth, the first two Owls reached on singles that were just out of the reach of the shortstop and second baseman respectively.

The next one was out of everybody’s reach as freshman Chris Erwin launched a long, towering three-run home run over the right field wall and halfway to Eden Terrace to make it 4-0. After retiring the next batter Sightler was removed for junior Josh Strong. Sightler gave up four runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings while striking out four. Strong pitched very well in relief, going the final 4.2 innings and not allowing a run and only three hits.

The Eagles mounted their most serious challenge in the seventh when they put two runners on with one out. Roger Gonzalez and John Menken had back-to-back base hits, but Brad Kaczka grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Freshman Mitch Spires was 2-for-3 for Winthrop.

“I really think it’s two evenly matched teams and I’m excited to go out tomorrow and see who wins the series against a really good Division I program,” Riginos said. “I told the guys five minutes after the game I’m ready to get back out here tomorrow. That’s the next test.”

The rubber game of the series is 2 p.m. on Sunday.

This story was originally published March 14, 2015 at 11:14 PM with the headline "Winthrop baseball splits doubleheader with Kennesaw State."