Winthrop baseball knocks off South Carolina for first time since 1996
The Winthrop baseball team used a four- run eleventh inning to defeat No. 6 South Carolina 7-5 on Tuesday night.
The Eagles( 14-5) snapped South Carolina’s 10-game winning streak and dropped the Gamecocks to 17-4. Tuesday’s win marks the first time in program history the Eagles have beaten both South Carolina and Clemson in the same year, and also gave Winthrop its first win over the Gamecocks since 1996.
Head coach Tom Riginos was extremely proud of his team’s accomplishment.
“We came out and did what we had to do in the beginning,” he said. “Our pitchers did an outstanding job and we got big hits when we needed it.”
Joey Strain earned his second win of the year, giving up two runs on four hits in 1.2 innings of relief work. Winthrop’s starter Josh Strong allowed three runs, all unearned, on four hits in his 5.1 innings, before reliever Travis Shelley held the Gamecocks to three hits in four innings. South Carolina threw nine pitchers with Cody Mincey taking the loss, surrendering four runs on three hits in 2/3 of an inning in the top of the 11th.
Brad Kaczka led off the decisive eleventh inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Mitch Spires. Kyle Edwards then walked before Tyler Asbill singled to load the bases. Babe Thomas hit a single through the left side to score Kaczka and Edwards and pushed Asbill to third. Mark Lowrie singled to reload the bases and Asbill and Thomas scored on a single up the middle by Roger Gonzalez.
The Gamecocks got two runs back in the bottom of the 11th but the Eagles were able to hold on for another win against top-70 RPI opposition.
The Eagles jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. With two outs, Anthony Paulsen and Lowrie walked before Paulsen was brought home on an RBI double by Gonzalez.
After holding the Gamecocks to just two hits in three and half innings, South Carolina tied it up in the bottom of the fourth inning. Elliot Caldwell singled and advanced to second on a ground out by Alex Destino. Caldwell stole third and crossed the plate on a throwing error by Gonzalez.
Winthrop fought back to score a run in both the fifth and sixth innings. Chad Smith led off the fifth inning by reaching on a throwing error by the shortstop that advanced him to second. Edwards advanced Smith to third on a sacrifice bunt and Smith scored on a single by Thomas. Paulsen then walked but Thomas, who was 2-for-6 with three RBI, was thrown at home trying to score from second on a single by Lowrie.
The Eagles pushed the lead to two in the sixth inning on a bases loaded suicide squeeze by Kaczka that scored Gonzalez, who also drove in three runs with three hits.
Winthrop pitchers didn’t allow an earned run until the 10th inning, but errors caught up with the Eagles in the sixth. Jordan Gore led off and reached on a fielding error by Edwards. Kyle Martin then got on base courtesy of a fielder’s choice but Gore was safe at second and advanced to third on an error by Smith. Gore scored on a single by Caldwell and Martin tied the game up on a sacrifice fly by Connor Bright.
The Eagles head to Charleston on Wednesday to take on Southern Conference foe The Citadel at 5 p.m., before opening Big South Conference play this weekend at home against Gardner-Webb.
This story was originally published March 17, 2015 at 11:31 PM with the headline "Winthrop baseball knocks off South Carolina for first time since 1996."