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ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop baseball team will return to the baseball diamond on Monday evening with a 6 p.m. contest against the Valparaiso Crusaders at The Winthrop Ballpark.

The contest between the Eagles and Crusaders will be the first in school history against each other.

Winthrop enters the Monday night contest 2-14 on the season after dropping two out of three to Holy Cross last weekend, while the Crusaders are 4-10 overall as they fell in two games to Big South member Campbell last Friday and Saturday.

The Eagles offense is led by Justin Hopper with a .250 average at the plate, and is one of three players along with Patrick Gamblin and TJ Olesczuk with one home run each on the season. Matt Lobacz posts a team-best 12 RBI. Eric Ruth and Matt Pierpont have the team's two wins on the mound, while Tyler Klitsch leads all pitchers with a 2.42 ERA.

Valparaiso is led offensively by Tanner Vavra with a .305 average and two triples, while Chris Manning has driven in a team-high eight RBI in the team's 14 games. Jarad Miller leads the Crusader pitching staff with two wins on the season, while Kevin Upp has a team-leading 2.25 ERA in three relief appearances.

Valparaiso is coached by Tracy Woodson, who is currently in his sixth season with the program. He holds a 124-167 record with the Crusaders and in his career.

Preston Johnson is slated to be the starting pitcher for Winthrop against Valparaiso, while the Crusaders will go with Will Robinson. Johnson holds a 0-3 record on the mound with a 7.98 ERA, and Robinson is 1-1 overall to go with his 7.71 ERA. Johnson has made four starts on the season, and Robinson one.