Box Score Box Score
ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop baseball team picked up a complete game from
Tyler Klitsch on Sunday afternoon as it defeated the Rider Broncs 5-2 at The Winthrop Ballpark to complete the three-game sweep.
The Eagles have now won three games in a row and improve their record to 6-15 overall, while the Broncs fall to 5-12 on the season.
Klitsch (1-1) also picked up his first career win at Winthrop allowing just two runs (none earned) on six hits, two walks and four strikeouts. Kurt Sowa (2-2) suffered the loss pitching 5.0 innings and gave up five runs (four earned) on five hits, five walks and seven strikeouts.
The complete game by Klitsch is the second this weekend recorded by the Winthrop pitching staff as
Matt Pierpont also notched his first career complete game on Friday night in the Eagles 4-0 win in the series opener. It was also Klitsch's second straight nine inning performance on the mound this season as he did the same in the series finale against Holy Cross on Mar. 11. He did not earn a decision in the contest.
Winthrop fell behind to Rider in the bottom of the first on an RBI sacrifice fly to center field by Greg Fazio scoring Brandon Cotten, who led off the game by reaching on an error, from third base. The Eagles, however, responded with one run each in the first and second innings to take a 2-1 lead.
Chas Crane came home in the first inning as
Patrick Gamblin reached on a throwing error by Fazio at shortstop, while
Reid Langdale tallied his first career RBI at Winthrop in the second on a single to left field scoring
Max Vogel.
The Broncs tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the third on Fazio's RBI sacrifice fly to center field, but the Eagles broke the game open for good taking a 5-2 lead into the seventh inning after plating two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth.
Matt Lobacz was responsible for all three runs as he doubled home Gamblin and Crane in the fifth, and his RBI single in the sixth brought home
Tony Brandner. Brandner led off the bottom of the seventh for Winthrop with his first career hit as an Eagle.
Lobacz had a team-high three RBI on the afternoon for Winthrop, and tied Vogel with two hits each. Nick Crescenzo led the Rider offense with a 3-for-3 performance, while Fazio drove in both runs.
The Eagles will be back in action on Tuesday, Mar. 20 as they will travel to Winston-Salem, NC to face the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Wake Forest Baseball Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
