Box Score
LEXINGTON, VA – The Winthrop baseball team defeated the VMI Keydets 6-5 in the first game of a three-game Big South Conference series on Friday evening at Gray-Minor Stadium.
The Eagles improve to 22-25 on the season and 10-12 in conference play, while the Keydets fall to 30-17 overall and 11-11 in the conference.
Matteo D'Angelo (7-4) picked up the win tossing 6.0 innings and allowed three runs on three hits, two walks and eight strikeouts. Adam Lopez (5-3) took the loss throwing 6.2 innings and surrendered four runs on nine hits, four walks and eight strikeouts. Tyler Mizenko (5) earned the save hurling 3.0 innings of relief and gave up two runs on two hits, one walk and four strikeouts.
“This was a big ballgame for us,” said head coach Joe Hudak. “We got some big hits tonight.”
Winthrop was able to jump out to a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the second after scoring one run each in the first and second innings. Matt Thielepape drove in Tyler Cook with his RBI double off the center field for the first run of the game and Patrick Gamblin came up with a first-pitch leadoff homer to left field in the second. The home run was Gamblin's fifth of the season.
VMI cut the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the second inning when Graham Sullivan hit a solo home run to left field against D'Angelo.
The Eagles responded with a run in the third inning when Thielepape homered to left center field, his eighth of the season, to make the score 3-1 before the game was suspended for an hour and two minutes due to lightning in the area.
Winthrop came back out after the weather delay and Thielepape started things with a triple into the right center field gap which scored Eddie Rohan from first. Rohan reached base on a walk prior to the game being suspended.
Jordan Ballard trimmed the Eagles advantage to 4-3 with his two-run homer to left field in the bottom of the sixth. Sam Roberts came home on the long ball after he doubled to center field two batters earlier.
The contest was delayed a second time for 38 minutes in the bottom of the seventh due to rain, but Winthrop came out after the delay and scored two runs in the top of the eighth and extended its lead to 6-3. Adam Gliebe started the inning with an infield single and later came home on a wild pitch by reliever John Garrett. Sean Sullivan followed the wild pitch with his RBI double down the left field line which brought home Gliebe.
The Keydets answered back and made it a 6-5 game after driving in two runs of their own in the bottom of the eighth on a two-run homer by Cory Spangenberg.
Gamblin went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate for the Eagles, while Gliebe and Thielepape had three hits each. Thielepape fell just a single shy of the cycle in the series opener and had a team-high three RBI. Five different VMI hitters posted one hit in the contest, and Spangenberg and Ballard had two RBI apiece.
Winthrop and the Keydets will resume their series on Saturday, May 15 with a 6 p.m. matchup.
