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ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop baseball team will return to the friendly confines of The Winthrop Ballpark this weekend as it hosts the Rider Broncos for the first time in school history in a three-game non-conference series.

Game times are scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday, 3 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. This is the second straight weekend that the Eagles have hosted a home series as they faced Holy Cross last weekend.

Winthrop enters the weekend with a 3-15 overall record, while the Broncos post a 5-9 record on the season. Both teams dropped their previous contest as the Eagles fell at The Citadel 9-2 on Mar. 14, while Rider was defeated at Campbell 9-3 Wednesday night.

Justin Hopper's .300 average at the plate leads the Winthrop offense, while he has hit a team-high two home runs and Matt Lobacz has driven in a team-leading 14 runs. Tyler Klitsch leads the Eagle pitching staff with a 2.42 ERA in 26.0 innings pitched, while Matt Pierpont, Eric Ruth and Michael Gilroy have one win each.

The Broncos' offense is led by Ian Lindsay with a .359 average, and Adam Wayman has a team-leading 10 RBI. Brandon Cotton, Mike Parsons and Greg Fazio have hit one homer each on the season. The Rider pitching staff is led by Mike Murphy with a 1.64 ERA in 22.0 innings of work, and Kurt Sowa has a team-high two wins on the season.

Murphy is the scheduled starter in the series opener Friday night, while Patrick Devlin will pitch on Saturday and Sowa on Sunday. Winthrop will counter with Matt Pierpont on Friday, Eric Ruth on Saturday and Tyler Klitsch on Sunday.

The Broncos play in the Northeast Conference, and is led by eighth-year head coach Barry Davis. Davis has a career coaching record of 766-386-4, while posting a 195-190 mark with Rider.