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ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop baseball team will return to The Winthrop Ballpark this weekend for a three-game Big South series against Liberty after spending the last eight games on the road.
Game times for this weekend's series are 6 p.m. on Friday, 3 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
The series opener on Friday is also Jimmy Buffett Night as any fan who attends the game wearing island attire will receive free admission, and the first 250 fans will receive a free LEI.
The Eagles enter the weekend with an 11-23 overall record and 4-5 mark in the Big South, while the Flames are 28-8 on the season and 7-2 in the conference.
Winthrop leads the all-time series over Liberty 39-37 and 23-14 when playing in Rock Hill. The Eagles won the first all-time meeting in the series 4-1 on June 5, 1981 in the NAIA World Series. Liberty was then known as Liberty Baptist College. The Flames took two out of three last season from Winthrop in Lynchburg, VA, but the Eagles took two out of three from Liberty the last time the two teams played in Rock Hill during the 2010 season.
Max Vogel continues to lead the Winthrop offense with a .270 average at the plate, while
Patrick Gamblin has hit a team-high four home runs to go with 52 total bases on the season and
Matt Lobacz has driven in 25 RBI.
Tyler Klitsch's 2.44 ERA in 55.1 innings pitched leads the Eagle pitching staff so far this season, while both
Matt Pierpont and
Eric Ruth have tallied three wins each. Pierpont has pitched a team-leading 58.0 innings overall and notched two complete games.
Austin Stuart has recorded a team-best three saves.
The Flames are led by head coach Jim Toman, who is in his fifth season with the program. Liberty is led offensively by Bryan Aanderud with a .415 average and 36 RBI, while Andy Smith and Alex Close have both hit six home runs on the season. Smith has tallied a team-best 70 total bases, and Ian Parmley is 21-for-24 in stolen bases. The Flames pitching staff is led by John Niggli with a 2.13 ERA overall, and is tied for the team-lead in wins at six with Patrick Eckelbarger. Both Niggli and Eckelbarger have two complete games on the season, while Niggli has tossed 55.0 innings overall and Eckelbarger has an opposing average of .188.
