Winthrop baseball drops two against Gardner-Webb
Gardner-Webb swept a doubleheader against Winthrop on Thursday, winning 5-3 in both games at John Henry Moss Stadium.
Game 1
Winthrop (27-5, 11-12 Big South) struck first in the top of the second when Derron Davis singled to the pitcher and Mark Lowrie advanced home on a throwing error for the quick lead.
The Bulldogs (36-18, 14-9) responded with three runs on four hits to take the lead at 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth.
Gardner-Webb added another run in the bottom of the fifth on sacrifice fly ball.
Again, Gardner-Webb extended their lead in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single.
The Eagles began to cut in to the Bulldogs lead scoring one run in both the seventh and eighth inning. One on a Tyler Asbill RBI single scoring Davis and another on a Mitch Spires sacrifice fly ball to score Roger Gonzalez.
Winthrop was unable to overcome the 5-3 deficit and the Bulldogs took Game 1.
Asbill was 3 for 5 with an RBI and Anthony Paulsen went 2 for 5. Starting lefty Sam Kmiec received the loss in this decision and is now 6-6 on the season with a 3.67 ERA.
Game 2
Both teams carried momentum over into Game 2 as both schools were able to score an early run in the first. Winthrop scored with a Mark Lowrie single up the middle sending Brandon Fite home for an unearned run. Gardner-Webb was able to even the game at 1-1 in the bottom half of the inning on a sacrifice fly.
The Bulldogs pulled ahead in the bottom of the fourth extending their lead by three runs on four hits.
Winthrop rallied with two outs in the top of the seventh. Fite and Paulsen hit back to back singles and then were both scored on a Gonzalez double to left field.
Gardner-Webb responded in the bottom of the seventh adding one last run when P. Graham reached on a fielding error and P. Trick scored.
The Eagles failed to rally in the eighth and ninth inning and the game ended in a 5-3 final.
Paulsen’s bat stayed hot in the second game going 2-4 as did Asbill going 2-5. Gonzalez was 2 for 4 with two RBIs. Winthrop’s starting southpaw, Thad Harris, took the loss and is now 6-4 with a 4.70 ERA on the season.
The third game of the weekend series is scheduled for Friday at 2 p.m. at John Henry Moss Stadium.
This story was originally published May 19, 2016 at 7:56 PM with the headline "Winthrop baseball drops two against Gardner-Webb."