Box Score
ROCK HILL, SC – Winthrop sophomore pitcher Eric Ruth tied a career-high outing on Friday afternoon tossing 4.2 innings of relief and struck out a career-best seven batters as the Winthrop Eagles defeated the Michigan Wolverines 8-5 at The Winthrop Ballpark on day one of the Bojangles Baseball Classic.
The Eagles, winners of four straight contests, improve to 6-5 on the season, while the Wolverines fall to 2-10 overall.
Ruth (2-0) allowed only one run in his relief outing on four hits and one walk. Matt Broder (1-1) took the loss throwing 2.0 innings of relief and surrendered three runs on three hits, four walks and no strikeouts.
“We grew up and learned how to win today,” said head coach Tom Riginos. “It builds character. We had a great eighth inning tonight and you can't say enough about Ruth's performance.”
Michigan scored three runs in the top of the first against Winthrop starter Tyler Mizenko to take a 3-0 lead. Patrick Biondi started the scoring in the first inning with his one-out RBI single, and John Lorenz highlighted the inning with his two RBI single to right field.
The Eagles responded with two runs in the bottom of the first and three runs in the second inning to go ahead 5-3. Chas Crane and Brett Thomas both recorded an RBI in the second, while Adam Gliebe and Eddie Rohan posted an RBI apiece in the third. TJ Olesczuk also scored after Cam Walters reached on a throwing error by Wolverine starting pitcher Tyler Mills.
Michigan plated one run each in the fifth and sixth innings to tie to score at 5-5 off Mizenko and Ruth. Lorenz's RBI single in the fifth scored Michael O'Neill, and then O'Neill brought in Derek Dennis on an RBI groundout in the sixth inning.
Winthrop took the lead for good in its half of the eighth bringing in three runs against Broder to make it an 8-5 game. Walters came home for the first run on Broder's second straight wild pitch and Crane singled in Gamblin with one out. Crane used heads-up base running to score the final run as Matt Pierpont fouled out to Garrett Stephens at first base. Stephens fell after making the catch in shallow right field, and Crane raced home sliding to give the Eagles their third run of the inning.
Crane led Winthrop offensively with a 3-for-5 performance and two RBI, while four other players had one RBI each. Lorenz was one of four Wolverine players with two hits and drove in a team-high three RBI.
The Eagles will be back in action on Saturday, Mar. 12 hosting Stony Brook and Michigan on day two of the Bojangles Baseball Classic. Winthrop will face the Seawolves at 2:30 p.m. and the Wolverines at 6 p.m.
