Winthrop baseball heads to Coastal Carolina looking for Big South series win

The Winthrop baseball team will have its first road conference series this weekend as it takes on Coastal Carolina, beginning Friday night at 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s games are both scheduled for 2 p.m.

The Eagles (17-8, 1-2 Big South) are looking to replicate the success in their non-conference schedule in Big South play.

Winthrop avenged losses in back-to-back mid-week games this week against The Citadel and USC-Upstate, outscoring both opponents by 11 runs. Brad Kazcka and Roger Gonzalez are ranked fourth and second in the conference, respectively in batting average combining for an overall average of .396 with 65 hits and 27 RBI. The Eagles are third in the conference in team batting with an average of .292 and have a conference-high nine triples. Defensively, the Winthrop pitching staff is second in the conference in team pitching with an overall ERA of 3.33, led by junior Sam Kmiec who has a 1.94 ERA and a conference-high 51 strikeouts.

Coastal Carolina (18-6, 3-0 Big South) is on a nine game winning streak, most recently knocking off No. 7 South Carolina in extra innings. The Chanticleers swept UNC Asheville in its opening conference series, outscoring the Bulldogs 27-8. Junior Anthony Marks is the leading hitter for the Chanticleers, averaging .344 with 33 hits and 26 runs. Junior David Parrett has driven home a team high 26 runs on 22 hits. Coastal Carolina’s weekend pitching rotation has a combined ERA of 2.57 and has allowed 36 runs on 72 hits.

Head coach of the Chanticleers is Gary Gilmore. He has been at the helm of his alma mater for 20 years and has an overall record of 771-347.

This story was originally published March 26, 2015 at 2:27 PM with the headline "Winthrop baseball heads to Coastal Carolina looking for Big South series win."