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ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop baseball team will kick off its 2012 campaign this weekend by hosting the ninth-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and Kent State Golden Flashes in the Rock Hill Coca-Cola Classic.
The Eagles will face the Yellow Jackets at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17, the Golden Flashes at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18 and conclude the tournament on Sunday, Feb. 19 by playing both teams in a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.
Winthrop enters its second season under head coach
Tom Riginos, who finished 2011 with a 27-30 overall record and 15-12 Big South Conference mark. The squad returns four position starters from last season in first baseman
Matt Lobacz, third baseman
Chas Crane, and outfielders
Patrick Gamblin and
TJ Olesczuk. The Eagles, however, must replace all three weekend starters after losing
Robert Lake and
Matteo D'Angelo to graduation, and
Tyler Mizenko to the Major League Baseball Draft. A total of 18 newcomers join Winthrop's 2012 roster, while 16 letter winners return.
Olesczuk is the leading hitter returning for the Eagles in 2012 after posting a .307 average at the plate as a freshman with one home run and 23 RBI. Gamblin led Winthrop last season with 15 stolen bases, Crane recorded a team-best 44 walks and Lobacz finished second on the team with a .995 fielding percentage committing just two errors in 47 games played.
The Eagles return four pitchers who saw action last season in senior
Austin Stuart, redshirt-junior
Mitchell Knox, and juniors
Eric Ruth and
Matt Pierpont. Ruth had a team-best 6-1 record last season and tied for the team lead in saves with four. Knox led all relievers with a 3.29 ERA in 23 appearances with one start. Pierpont tallied six starts and 16 total appearances to go with his 4-4 record on the mound.
Georgia Tech is led by head coach Danny Hall, who is in his 19
th season with the program and 25
th overall. Hall has a career record of 987-466-1 and 779-349-1 record with the school. The Yellow Jackets finished last season with a 42-21 record and hosted an NCAA Regional. They have seven position players and two starting pitchers from last year's squad that captured the ACC Coastal Division. Four of those seven returning starters posted a .300 or better average at the plate, while outfielder Daniel Palka posted 12 home runs and 52 RBI. Pitcher Buck Farmer is the leading pitcher returning for Georgia Tech as he went 11-3 with a 2.82 ERA in 108.1 innings pitched.
Kent State finished last season with a 45-17 record overall and 21-5 conference record. The Golden Flashes are led by head coach Scott Stricklin who is entering his eighth season with the program and has a career record 267-145, all of which has come at Kent State. Catcher David Lyon is the Golden Flashes' leading hitter after posting a .315 average at the plate with nine home runs and 53 RBI with 61 starts. David Starn is the top returning pitcher after compiling a 9-3 record on the mound with a 2.18 ERA.
The Yellow Jackets lead the all-time series over the Eagles 16-1 dating back to the 1992 season. The two teams last met in 2005. Winthrop's only victory in the series came on Apr. 9, 2005 with a 12-9 win in Atlanta, GA. Kent State holds a 16-12 series lead over the Eagles beginning with the 1990 campaign. The Golden Flashes have won the last four meetings in the series, including two last season in Rock Hill. Winthrop last defeated Kent State 5-0 on Mar. 2, 2008.
