Box Score
ROCK HILL, SC – Gabe Grammer's leadoff homer with no outs in the top of the 13th inning gave the Presbyterian Blue Hose an 8-7 victory over the Winthrop Eagles Sunday afternoon in the finale of a three-game series. It was the fourth extra-inning game this season for the squad.
The Eagles fall to 21-21 on the season and 9-9 in the Big South, while the Blue Hose improve to 12-30 overall and 4-14 in the conference.
Tommy Lawrence (2-3) took the loss pitching one-third of an inning and gave up one run on two hits, no walks and no strikeouts. Steven Richardson (3-6) picked up the win tossing a scoreless one-third of an inning and struck out one batter. Rodney Scruggs (1) earned the save hurling 1.0 inning and surrendered only one hit.
“We played hard, there's no doubt about that,” said head coach Joe Hudak. “The disappointing thing is that we scored one run in the last seven innings. We had numerous opportunities to win the game, but we just couldn't get it done.”
Presbyterian jumped out to a 4-0 lead heading into the third inning after scoring a run in the first and three in the second inning. The Blue Hose used small ball to plate their first run of the game when Kenny Bryant drove in Gabe Grammer on an RBI ground out to second base. Bryant would bring home two more with his single in the second inning to make it a 4-0 game as he followed an RBI infield single by Jeff Tatum.
Presbyterian then increased its lead to 5-0 in the top of the third on a solo home run to center field by Aaron Preston before Patrick Gamblin gave Winthrop its first run of the game with his fourth homer of the season, a solo shot, to right field and cut the deficit to 5-1.
Bryant put the Blue Hose lead back to five runs at 6-1 on his solo home run to right field in the top of the fifth, but Gamblin trimmed the lead to 6-3 in the bottom of the fifth on his two RBI single to right field.
The Eagles tied the game at 6-6 in their half of the sixth inning that started with Matt Thielepape's two-run homer to right field for his sixth of the season. Adam Gliebe followed with a double to left field and Max Vogel would drive him in with an RBI double into the left field gap.
Presbyterian re-took the lead at 7-6 in the top of the seventh on Preston's RBI single to right field that scored Bryant from second base. Bryant reached on a double into right center field three batters earlier.
Thielepape tied the game back up at 7-7 in the bottom of the eighth with his solo homer off the batter's eye in center field for his second long ball of the day.
Vogel led the Winthrop offense with a 4-for-6 performance at the plate, while Thielepape and Gamblin had three RBI each. Grammer and Bryant both posted a team-high three hits for the Blue Hose in the finale, and Bryant drove in four runs.
The Eagles will be back in action on Wednesday, May 5 as they travel to Columbia, SC to face the 13th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks at 7 p.m.
