Box Score Box Score

ROCK HILL, SC – Winthrop sophomore Leighton Daniels paced the Eagles with a 3-for-4 performance, but was not enough as the Eagles were shut out by High Point 7-0 Friday at the Winthrop Ballpark.

With the loss, Winthrop falls to 17-34 on the year and 9-13 in the Big South, as the Panthers improve to 25-29 and 10-13 in the conference.  The loss sets up a winner-take-all game for the eighth-seed in the Big South Tournament, starting Tuesday in High Point, NC.

Jared Advidon (2-5) tossed a complete game shutout for the Panthers, giving up nine hits while striking out two Eagle batters.  For Winthrop, Eric Ruth (3-3) took the loss throwing 6.2 innings, giving up eight hits and three earned runs.  On the night, the junior finished with three strikeouts and allowed two walks.

High Point started quickly in the first inning, when Willie Medina led off with a single to right field.  The junior later stole second before advancing to third on a single by Dane McDermott.  Medina later scored on a double play off the bat of Ryne Rush.

The Panthers added to the lead in the fifth inning with three consecutive hits, highlighted by Devin Bujnovsky's two RBI single increasing the High Point lead to 3-0.  HPU left two runners on base to close out the inning.

High Point extended the lead by scoring four runs in the eighth inning off six hits.  Rush led off the inning with a homerun to centerfield, while Wilson, Ryan Retz and Mike Miedzianowski each tallied an RBI in the inning. With the four runs, HPU increased its lead to 7-0.

The Eagles were led at the plate by Daniels who totaled three hits on the night.  Following Daniels in hits were redshirt senior Justin Hopper and redshirt junior Matt Lobacz with two hits.  The three players combined for seven of nine Eagle hits. HPU tallied 14 hits as Bujnovsky led the way with three. Four other High Point players notched two hits for the game.

Winthrop and High Point will conclude their series on Saturday, May 19 at 2 p.m. at The Winthrop Ballpark, with the winner earning the final position in the Big South Championships. The game will also be Senior Day, as the team will honor seniors, Chas Crane, Justin Hopper and Austin Stuart.