Winthrop opens Big South baseball tournament Tuesday
Winthrop’s Big South tournament week didn’t get off to the best start. The Eagles’ team bus broke down Monday morning in the Winthrop Ballpark parking lot.
Just like the bus situation, the Eagles had to overcome a tight spot against Gardner-Webb and snatch a 7-4 win in last Saturday’s regular season finale. The Runnin’ Bulldogs took a doubleheader from Winthrop on Thursday and Friday’s game was called off because of rain. Another loss for Winthrop would have cost the Eagles a spot in the Big South tournament, which only takes eight of the league’s 11 teams.
Trailing 4-2 headed into the ninth, the Eagles got five runs on five hits, with Mark Lowrie, former Nation Ford Falcon Brandon Fite and Anthony Paulsen delivering RBI base knocks in the late rally. Winthrop coach Tom Riginos felt good about his team’s season-salvaging performance headed into the conference tournament in Lexington, S.C.
"I think it showed some toughness, some moxie, some guts," said Riginos. "When we play at our best, that's how we played on Saturday."
▪ No. 6 Winthrop (28-25, 12-12 Big South) faces No. 3 Longwood (30-25, 14-10) Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 45 minutes after the completion of the 9:30 a.m. tournament opener between High Point and Liberty.
Longwood finished in a three-way tie with High Point and Gardner-Webb; tie-breakers put the Lancers third. Winthrop and Longwood have never met in the Big South tournament. The Eagles have won their last two tournament openers.
Check out the Big South baseball tournament bracket here.
▪ Campbell actually finished the regular season 13-11, good enough for fifth place. But the Camels’ APR academic rate landed the program a postseason suspension from the NCAA, handing the eighth and final spot in the Big South tournament to Radford.
▪ Top seed Coastal Carolina won the Big South regular season title by a full seven games. The Chanticleers - headed to the Sun Belt Conference this summer - finished their final run through the Big South 21-3, winning eight of the final nine league games. The seven-game margin between first and second place is the largest in conference history.
Coastal, which features former Northwestern Trojan outfielder Josh Crump, capped a 40-15 regular season with a 23-4 hammering of Campbell in a seven-inning contest on Saturday. Gary Gilmore’s squad swept five Big South series this spring, including the three games against Radford. Coastal faces the Highlanders in Tuesday’s first round of the tournament.
"Coastal is having a great year," said Riginos. "But I think any team can win this tournament, 1 through 8. You just look at the standings; lot of parity."
▪ Coastal has been an annual power in the Big South, but Presbyterian certainly has not. The Blue Hose qualified for this year’s tournament for the first time since becoming a full league member in 2013. Presbyterian’s lineup features senior infielder Jacob Midkiff, a former South Pointe Stallion who’s started all 55 games for the Blue Hose this year, and is batting .297.
▪ Another high-water mark: the No. 2 seed is the best High Point has ever earned for a Big South tournament. The Panthers only won two of their final six Big South contests but they owned tie-breakers over Longwood and Gardner-Webb to wrap up the second spot in the seeding.
▪ Winthrop placed three players on the Big South all-conference teams that were announced Monday. Junior outfielder Anthony Paulsen and senior catcher Roger Gonzalez were named to the second team, while senior infielder Mark Lowrie was named to the honorable mention list. Zach Cook was named to the All-Academic team. Coastal’s Connor Owings’ .405 batting average and 15 home runs earned him Big South player of the year and Chanticleers pitcher Andrew Beckwith (1.72 earned run average) was named the pitcher of the year. Gilmore earned coach of the year honors.
This story was originally published May 23, 2016 at 5:08 PM with the headline "Winthrop opens Big South baseball tournament Tuesday."