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Eric Ruth Follows Through Pitch

Baseball Comes Back For 6-5 Win Over #24 Coastal Carolina

Eric Ruth Moves To 6-1 On The Season With The Victory

Box Score

ROCK HILL, SC – Cam Walters scored the game-winning run on an RBI fielder's choice by Justin Hopper in the bottom of the 13th inning as the Winthrop Eagles defeated the 24th-ranked Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 6-5 on Saturday afternoon at The Winthrop Ballpark.

The Eagles improve to 25-26 on the season and 13-10 in conference play, while the Chanticleers fall to 33-17 overall and 17-6 in the conference.

Eric Ruth (6-1) earned the win tossing 2.0 scoreless innings of relief and gave up one hit on no walks and no strikeouts. Aaron Burke (0-2) took the loss pitching 2.2 innings and gave up one run on one hit, two walks and one strikeout.

“It was an absolute grind today,” said head coach Tom Riginos. “That is competing at its best and doing everything we needed to do. I like the way we are playing right now. We are playing with some confidence.

The 13-inning contest was the longest this season for Winthrop. The Eagles played in two 13-inning games last season at UNC Asheville and against Presbyterian College, and went 1-1 in those games. It is also the first time since the 2009 season that Winthrop has won back-to-back games against a top 25 opponent. The Eagles took two out of three that season from Coastal Carolina, who was ranked tenth in the country at that time.

Winthrop began the bottom of the 13th with a leadoff walk to Cam Walters, and then went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Cook. Burke intentionally walked Chas Crane following the Cook sacrifice, and then hit Eddie Rohan with a pitch. Hopper came on to pinch-hit for Matt Pierpont and hit the first pitch to Chanticleer first baseman Rich Witten. The throw home by Witten was not in time, and allowed Walters to score the game-winning run. The Eagles have now won two straight games in their last at-bat.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning when Winthrop plated two runs and took a 2-0 lead over Coastal Carolina. TJ Olesczuk began the scoring for the Eagles with his RBI ground out, and Patrick Gamblin followed in the next at-bat with his RBI double down the left field line.

The Chanticleers tied the contest at 2-2 with two runs of their own in the top of the fifth on an RBI sacrifice fly to right field by Witten, and Tommy La Stella's RBI single to right field.

Coastal Carolina drove in two runs during its half of the seventh and one in the eighth to take a 5-2 lead over Winthrop. In the seventh, Hayes Orton brought in the first run with his RBI sacrifice bunt and La Stella recorded his second RBI single of the day. The lone Chanticleer run in the eighth inning came on an RBI triple into the right center field gap by Jacob May.

The Eagles tied the contest back up at 5-5 with a three-run bottom of the eighth inning. Rohan scored the first run of the inning after May booted a ball hit into left field by Adam Gliebe, and then Olesczuk posted his second RBI ground out of the game. Gliebe later scored on Gamblin's RBI infield single.

Gamblin led Winthrop with a 3-for-5 performance at the plate, and tied Olesczuk with a team-high two RBI. Tucker Frawley had a team-best three hits on the afternoon for Coastal Carolina, and La Stella drove in two runs.

The Eagles and Chanticleers will conclude their three-game series on Sunday, May 15 at 1 p.m.
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