Box Score
CHARLOTTE, NC – The Winthrop baseball team dropped a midweek decision to the Charlotte 49ers 16-5 on Wednesday evening at Robert and Mariam Hayes Stadium.
The Eagles fall to 15-17 on the season, while the 49ers improve to 22-8 overall.
“We played a sorry game tonight in all phases,” stated head coach Joe Hudak. “It was just a bad outing for us.”
Tommy Lawrence (2-2) took the loss on Wednesday throwing 2.2 innings and allowed six runs (five earned) on four hits, three walks and five strikeouts. John Hamilton (1-0) picked up the victory pitching 2.0 innings and gave up one run on three hits, no walks and two strikeouts.
Eddie Rohan gave Winthrop a 1-0 lead with one out in the top of the first with his RBI double down the left field line. Tyler Cook scored on the hit after beginning the game with a single to center field.
Charlotte responded with a five-run second inning highlighted by a Ryan Rivers leadoff home run to left field and Shane Brown's two RBI single to right field. Justin Roland and Corey Shaylor also had an RBI each in the inning.
The 49ers added another run in the third inning to increase their lead to 6-1 on an RBI single to left field by Mike Perkins. Justin Wilson came home on the hit as he led off the inning with a walk.
The Eagles would cut the deficit to 6-2 in the top of the fourth on Adam Gliebe's RBI infield single to third base, but Charlotte answered back with three runs in its half of the fourth to make it a 9-2 game. Shaylor scored the first run of the inning on a wild pitch by Dom Patterozzi and Wilson followed with a two-run homer to left field.
Winthrop trimmed the 49ers lead to 9-5 in the top of the fifth inning on three straight RBI's from Gliebe, Chas Crane and Matt Pierpont. Crane began the scoring with his bases loaded walk with one out before Pierpont followed with his RBI sacrifice fly to right field. Gliebe plated the final run of the inning with an RBI single to center field.
Charlotte would send 12 batters to the plate in the eighth inning and drove in six runs to raise its lead to 15-5. Roland started with a bases loaded walk by Greg Hough and Shaylor proceeded to drive in three runs with a triple to right center field after Roland's at-bat. Brown and Wilson also posted an RBI each later in the inning.
The 49ers scored one run in the eighth inning on Wilson's two-out RBI infield single to first base that brought home Shane Basen. Basen entered the game to pinch-hit for Shaylor and reached on a base-on-balls.
Cook posted a team-best 4-for-5 performance at the plate for the Eagles and Gliebe drove in two runs. Brown had three hits for Charlotte on the evening, while Wilson and Shaylor had a team-high four RBI each.
“UNC Asheville is playing much better this year,” said Hudak looking ahead to this weekend's series. “We are going to have our work cut out for us and hopefully we can get back on the winning track.”
Winthrop will be back in action on Friday, Apr. 16 as it travels to Asheville, NC to face the Bulldogs at 3 p.m. All games this weekend will be played at McCormick Field.
