Winthrop baseball opens conference play against Gardner-Webb

The Winthrop baseball team opens Big South Conference play this weekend, playing host to Gardner-Webb in a three-game series that starts Friday at Winthrop Ballpark.

Winthrop (14-6) split its two mid-week road games, beating No. 6 South Carolina on Tuesday before falling to The Citadel a day later. After playing Gardner-Webb Friday night, the two teams then face off Saturday at 3 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m. Sixteen of the Eagles’ 20 games this season have been played at home.

Eagles junior catcher Roger Gonzalez is hitting .637 on the week thus far, with three doubles, four RBI and three runs. On the season, Gonzalez is batting .397 with a team high 17 RBI. Anthony Paulsen and Brad Kaczka are the other two Eagles hitting above .300, with both players combining for 53 hits and 22 RBI. Getting off to a fast start offensively against Gardner-Webb will be key for Winthrop; the Eagles are 8-0 when scoring in the first inning of games this season, and 9-0 when scoring first.

Winthrop’s Friday night starting pitcher Sam Kmiec ranks eighth in the country in strikeouts (43) and leads the conference in hits allowed per nine innings (4.75). The Winthrop pitching staff ranks in the top-50 in the nation with a collective 2.89 ERA, and have helped the Eagles move up to No. 130 in the college baseball Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). Tom Riginos’ team is 6-3 this season against teams in the RPI top-100, and boasts wins over South Carolina and Clemson for the first time in Winthrop history.

This will be the second conference series for the Bulldogs (12-9), who won their Big South opener against Presbyterian 2-1 on the road last weekend. Senior Erik Heiligenstadt was named the Big South Pitcher of the Week on Monday. Heiligenstadt pitched a complete four-hit shutout and struck out seven in Saturday’s 6-0 win over the Blue Hose. Ryan Hodge leads Gardner-Webb hitters with a .301 batting average, 12 runs and 25 hits, while redshirt senior Sam Fulginiti has driven home a team-high 15 runs.

This story was originally published March 19, 2015 at 3:11 PM with the headline "Winthrop baseball opens conference play against Gardner-Webb."