Eagle baseball take two from LaSalle, goes to 3-0

Winthrop (3-0) defeated LaSalle in the first game with a strong offense and solid defense. Winthrop left-hander Sam Kmiec (1-0) pitched a no-hitter until the 7th inning. He finished with nine strikeouts, only allowing one hit and one walk through seven innings to pick up the win.

Both teams struggled to get on the scoreboard early as the game was scoreless through the first 4  ½ innings. Eagles’ designated hitter Anthony Paulsen doubled to lead off Winthrop’s half of the fourth and advanced to third on Roger Gonzalez’s single. Paulsen scored on a Jace Whitley fielder’s choice to give Winthrop a 1-0 lead and the home team never looked back.

The Eagles extended their lead to 5-0 in the 5th with two hits and four RBIs. They were also assisted by two LaSalle errors and a passed ball.

Gonzalez (2-for-5) with two RBIs, hit Winthrop’s first home run of the season on the first pitch of the 7th inning.

▪ In the night cap, the Eagles needed some late rallying to win.

After tying the game at 5 in the seventh, the Eagles continued this momentum into the 8th when LaSalle’s right handed pitcher Tom Fazzini lead the inning off by walking two straight batters and hitting to load the bases. Kyle Edwards took advantage of this opportunity by lacing a two run double giving the Eagles a 7-5 lead. Asbill added another run with a fielder’s choice RBI and another run scored on a double play ground ball. Winthrop’s defense held strong in the top of the 9th to post the 9-5 victory.

“All in all I thought it was a great day for us,” said Winthrop coach Tom Riginos. “It’s never easy to take both games in a double header and we were able to accomplish that and that’s a big feather in our cap. I was really pleased with how we battled back in the second game. We got behind but we showed some toughness and didn’t panic. I thought Sammy (Kmiec) threw fabulous in the first game. Freddie (Sultan) kept us in it that second game and I’m real excited about where we are right now. We just have to get back after it tomorrow.”

The Eagles will conclude their home series against LaSalle Sunday at 1 p.m.

Softball: Winthrop split on its first day of the Carolina Classic earning a 6-1 win over UNC Greensboro before falling to Longwood 7-1. The Eagles (3-5) play Sunday with a 10 a.m. contest against Ohio and host USC at 3 p.m. with that game airing on the SEC Network-plus.

“I feel like we’re growing up,” said Winthrop co-head coach Mark Cooke. “I thought our performance was a big improvement over last weekend. Dallas (King) threw the ball well today, as did Bradlee (Holeman). In the second game, we just made some mistakes and it got away from us.”

The Eagles opened the day with their third straight win behind the arm of senior Dallas King as she allowed one run on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts to improve to 2-2 on the year.

Winthrop held a 2-1 lead heading into the fifth and opened up the game with three runs. Paige Haley walked to lead off the inning and moved to second when Leah Young tried to sacrifice her over but reached herself on a poor throw by the catcher. Two batters later, freshman Blake Wallert put the Eagles up 3-1 with an RBI single to left, scoring Haley. With two outs and two on, Haley Zuehlke grounded to the shortstop on the first pitch but the shortstop committed an error that led to Wallert and Young scoring for a 5-1 lead.

Young finished the game with two hits while Haley scored twice and seven different players recorded at least one base hit. It was third straight game in which Young and Wallert got a hit and the fourth straight game that Haley reached base.

Nicole Thomas took the loss in the circle for the Spartans as she allowed five runs on five hits with two walks and a strikeout in 4.1 innings.

Longwood grabbed the lead in the third inning on an RBI single to right by Glenn Walters. Then Krista Kelly followed that with an RBI double to left. At that point Cooke made a pitching change to Bradlee Holeman and she was able to get out of the inning without any more damage.

Longwood added another run in the fourth and four more in the fifth. Leading 3-0 heading into the fifth the Lancers plated four runs on three different RBI singles.

Winthrop had a chance to take the lead in the second when Wallert doubled with one out, but Zuehlke popped up to the pitcher for the second out. Then after Kim Ryder was plunked, the inning ended with a grounder as Ryder was out at second on the fielder’s choice.

In the top of the fifth the Eagles were in scoring position again as Zuehlke walked and then stole second with two outs, but Morgan Lowers flied out to left to end the threat.

The Eagles did spoil the shutout in the top of the seventh as Tara Loken drew a leadoff walk. Madison Templeton replaced her as a pinch-runner and advanced to second on a wild pitch and then moved to third on a fly out by Wallert. Then Zuehlke drove her in with a ground out to second.

Freshman Keleigh Romine started the game in the circle as she tossed 2.1 innings allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits as she falls to 0-1 in just her second start of the season. Longwood’s Elizabeth McCarthy tossed five shutout innings allowing one hit and striking out nine with two walks to earn the win in the circle.

This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 9:59 PM with the headline "Eagle baseball take two from LaSalle, goes to 3-0."