Box Score Box Score
ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop Eagles recorded a season-high 14 hits on Monday evening as it picked up an 8-6 win over the Valparaiso Crusaders at The Winthrop Ballpark in non-conference baseball action.
The Eagles improve to 3-14 on the season, while the Crusaders fall to 4-11 overall.
Michael Gilroy (1-2) earned the win tossing 4.0 innings and gave up two runs on five hits, no walks and one strikeout. Will Robinson (1-2) took the loss surrendering five runs (four earned) on four hits, one walk and one strikeout.
Preston Johnson (1) collected his first career save throwing 2.1 scoreless innings on one hit, one walk and six strikeouts. The six strikeouts by Johnson are a new career-high for him.
Valparaiso went ahead 1-0 in the top of the first on Will Hagel's RBI sacrifice fly to center field, but Winthrop responded with a run of its own in the bottom of the first to tie the game at 1-1.
Matt Lobacz drove home
Jason Driver with his RBI groundout after Driver led off the inning with a single, and went to third on a
Chas Crane walk and sacrifice bunt from
TJ Olesczuk.
The Eagles then broke the game open with five runs in the bottom of the second highlighted by RBI doubles from Crane and
Chad Smith, while Lobacz,
Max Vogel and
Justin Hopper recorded an RBI single each.
The Crusaders made it a 6-2 game in the third inning on a solo home run to right field by Tanner Vavra with two outs in the inning, but Hopper extended Winthrop's lead to 8-2 in the fourth on his two-run homer to left field for his second home run of the season. The homer by Vavra was his first of the year.
Valparaiso trimmed its deficit to 8-6 heading into the top of the eighth after plating one run in the fifth and three in the seventh. Chris Manning had an RBI single in the top of the fifth with two outs and, along with Hagel, had one RBI each in the seventh. Vavra also scored on a wild pitch by Eagle reliever
Stetson Nelson in the seventh.
Johnson came on in relief of Nelson with two outs in the top of the seventh and got Billy Cribbs to strike out looking. Johnson would then run into trouble in the eighth allowing the first three Crusader hitters to reach base on two errors and a walk, but he settled in to strike out Vavra, Kyle Schneider and Andrew Bain in a row to hold Valparaiso scoreless in the inning.
Six different Winthrop hitters had two hits apiece in the contest, while Hopper tied his career-high with three RBI. Bain, Vavra, Manning and Hagel tallied two hits each for the Crusaders, with Manning and Hagel driving in two runs apiece.
The Eagles will be back in action on Wednesday, Mar. 14 as they will travel to Charleston, SC to face The Citadel Bulldogs at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
