Winthrop University Athletics

Baseball Falls To Gardner-Webb 6-1 On Senior Day

5/21/2011 5:30:39 PM

Eagles Head To Big South Tournament Next Week at VMI

Box Score

ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop baseball team dropped a 6-1 decision to the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs in the series finale on Saturday afternoon at The Winthrop Ballpark.

The Eagles end the regular season with a 27-28 overall record and 15-12 mark in the conference, while the Runnin' Bulldogs improve to 30-21-1 on the season and 14-13 in conference play.

Kyle Paeplow (4-3) earned the win tossing 6.2 innings and gave up one run on two hits, four walks and four strikeouts. Matteo D'Angelo (4-8) took the loss surrendering three runs on eight hits, no walks and one strikeout in 4.0 innings pitched.

“We were ready to play today and were great defensively,” said head coach Tom Riginos. “Gardner-Webb got some big hits when it needed to, and did what it had to do.”

Gardner-Webb took a 2-0 lead over Winthrop with a two run third inning on an RBI double down the left field line by Daniel Merck and Adam McFarland's RBI single to right field, and then plated one run each in the fourth and fifth innings to extend its lead to 4-0. Benji Jackson recorded an RBI sacrifice fly in the fourth, while Dusty Quattlebaum hit a solo home run against Winthrop reliever Matt Pierpont to left field in the fifth. The long ball by Quattlebaum was his fifth of the season.

The Eagles trimmed their deficit to 4-1 in the bottom of the sixth on Adam Gliebe's RBI sacrifice fly to left field, but the Runnin' Bulldogs answered back with one run in the seventh inning and one in the eighth. Brad Collins had an RBI single in the seventh inning, while Aaron Miller scored on a wild pitch in the eighth.

“The body of work this weekend was really good,” Riginos said. “Our confidence is very, very high right now. I feel very good going into the conference tournament.”

Cam Walters and Leighton Daniels picked up both hits for Winthrop on the afternoon, while Gliebe had the lone RBI. Miller led Gardner-Webb offensively with a 4-for-4 performance, and five different players had one RBI each.

Saturday was Senior Day for the Eagles as they honored nine individuals prior to the start of the contest. Winthrop recognized the following players before the game: student manager Greg Larson, Tyler Cook, Sean Sullivan, Robert Lake, Eddie Rohan, Adam Gliebe, Wade Newman, Matteo D'Angelo and Dominic Patterozzi.

The Eagles have earned the No. 4 seed in the 2011 Royal Purple Big South Baseball Championship next week, and will play the No. 3 seed at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 25. The Big South Baseball Championship will be held for the first time in conference history at Gray-Minor Stadium on the campus of Virginia Military Institute.

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