Winthrop baseball offense overwhelms visiting RedHawks

Just two days removed from nearly upsetting Clemson on the road, the Winthrop baseball team returned home where they notched a 18-6 win against the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks on Friday

The Eagles scored in 13 hits, and used one of the game’s four combined home runs to pull ahead halfway through before a steady flow of runs kept the team ahead late.

“I knew we were going to play well today, I could just feel it,” Winthrop head coach Tom Riginos said of his team, who came into the game with four combined home runs as a team so far this Winthrop senior pitcher Sam Kmeic earned his third win of the year despite giving up 14 RedHawk hits in his eight innings pitched.

Winthrop took control in the bottom of the second inning after loading the bases with no outs.

Two outs later, it was catcher Roger Gonzalez getting a hit that got past both Miami first baseman Ross Haffey and right fielder Tyler Harris. The result was an three-RBI triple that put the Eagles up 5-1 before Gonzalez himself came home on a wild pitch on the next at-bat.

The Eagles found themselves on the wrong end of home runs in the fourth and fifth innings, and the RedHawks climbed back to within two runs by the time Winthrop’s frame of the fifth started.

Then, first baseman Mark Lowrie caught a hold of a pitch from Miami’s Brad Schwartz and sent it just over the left field fence. The play brought home home two other runners and gave the Given he was up 3-1 in the count, Lowire said he explained that he was expecting a fastball from Schwartz in an effort to get ahead.

“He just left it over the middle a little bit too much and I was able to put a pretty good swing on Lowrie was the breadwinner of an explosive Winthrop offense, as he brought in those three RBIs on two hits. Gonzalez mirrored his teammate’s performance with three runs on two hits as well, while center fielder Anthony Paulsen also brought in three runners despite going 1-5 on the day. Tyler Asbill, Mitch Spires and Babe Thomas also each had 2 RBI each.

Riginos was quick to compliment the visiting offense that put up double-digit hits, but also credited the Kmeic for hanging in there for eight innings.

“That’s why he’s a senior, he’s got a lot innings under his belt. You’re going to have days like that, the ball was jumping a little bit today. They hit some good pitches he was making, but I thought he did a good job of managing the game.”

The Eagles (8-6) and RedHawks (5-6) will meet again at The Winthrop Ballpark on Saturday for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.

This story was originally published March 11, 2016 at 7:48 PM with the headline "Winthrop baseball offense overwhelms visiting RedHawks."