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ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop baseball team will hit the road for its second and third consecutive midweek games of the season against Wake Forest on Mar. 20 and Charlotte on Mar. 21. First pitch for both games is set 6 p.m.
The Eagles enter the two midweek contests riding a three-game winning streak after picking up its first series sweep of the season last weekend at home against Rider. Winthrop currently holds a 6-15 overall, while the Demon Deacons are 16-7 and the 49ers are 10-10 on the season.
Wake Forest leads the all-time series over the Eagles 9-7, including a 5-2 mark in games played in Winston-Salem, NC. Winthrop won the first all-time meeting in the series 11-10 in 1996, while Wake Forest walked away with the win in the last meeting between the two teams 9-8 in 11 innings last season in Winston-Salem. Charlotte now holds a 15-12-1 lead over the Eagles in the series after picking up a 7-1 win in Rock Hill on Feb. 28. The 49ers hold an 8-4 advantage over Winthrop when playing in Charlotte.
The Eagles offense is led by
Justin Hopper with a .261 average, and is tied with
Patrick Gamblin for the team-lead in home runs with two.
Matt Lobacz has driven in a team-high 18 RBI on the season, while Gamblin has posted a team-best 27 total bases.
Tyler Klitsch, coming off his first career complete game performance, leads the Winthrop pitching staff with a 1.80 ERA in 25.0 innings pitched, while
Matt Pierpont and
Eric Ruth each have two wins on the mound. Pierpont also recorded his first career complete game, which was also a shutout, last weekend in the series-opener against the Broncs.
The Demon Deacons are led by head coach Tom Walter, who is in his third season with the program. The Wake Forest offense is led by Evan Stephens with a .373 average at the plate, while Carlos Lopez has six home runs and 32 RBI on the season. Brian Holmes tops the Demon Deacon pitching staff with a 4-0 mark and 1.44 ERA in 31.1 innings pitched, and Tim Cooney has struck out a team-leading 38 batters.
The 49ers are led offensively by Shane Brown with a .380 average and 35 total bases, while Tony Montalbano, Corbin Shive and Ross Steedley have two homers each on the season. Shane Basen currently posts a team-best 13 RBI. Joe Yermal and Andrew Smith have a team-best three wins on the season, while John Hamilton leads all relievers with a 0.79 ERA and four saves. Chad Rothlin tops all Charlotte starting pitchers with a 2.57 ERA in 21.0 innings of work.
