ROCK HILL, SC -- The Winthrop baseball team looks to carry the momentum from its big win over Clemson on Wednesday afternoon to Orlando, FL where they will take on Central Florida in a three-game series this weekend.
The Eagles traveled to Clemson Wednesday afternoon and collected their third win of the season in dramatic fashion as they overcame the Tigers in 11 innings on a RBI sacrifice fly off the bat of designated hitter
Clay Altman. The RBI in the eleventh was Altman's second game-winning RBI in extra innings this season.
The Eagles now travel to Central Florida (4-4) to take on the Knights for the first time in program history. The games are set to be played on Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 4:00 p.m., Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
UCF is coming off a 45-17 season in 2012 that included big wins over #4 Rice and #13 Miami. In April of 2012, the Knights earned a #11 ranking in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll. However, the Knights' stellar 2012 season came to end in the NCAA Regional Championship game losing to Stony Brook 10-6.
Central Florida lost six of its top contributors in 2012 to the MLB draft last June. The losses of LHP Joe Rogers, RHP Roman Madrid, shortstop Darnell Sweeney, centerfielder, Ronnie Richardson, first baseman T.J. Hicks, and RHP Matt Collins to the draft have lead the Knights to a slower 4-4 start on the 2013 season. Returning to the lineup this season for UCF are sluggers Chris Taladay (.375 avg.) and James Vasquez (.367 avg.). Ben Lively (2-0), Danny Davis (2-0), and Chris Matulis (0-0) are out to strong starts for the Knights on the mound as well.
Winthrop will be looking to win back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Eagles will rely on strong offensive contributions from Cody Dolan (.407),
Leighton Daniels (.400), and
Matt Lobacz (.367) who are out to great starts in 2013. Lobacz and Dolan have reached base in every game in which they have played this season while Daniels leads the team with a .514 on-base percentage.
The Eagles believe they are in a position to win more games this season due in large measuret to their mound staff.
Matt Pierpont (1-0), Joey Strain (0-1),
Tyler Klitsch (0-1), and Sam Kmiec (0-1) have each had strong starts in the rotation this season while
Eric Ruth,
Josh Strong,
Mitchell Knox, Jared Keels, and Zach Sightler have dominated out of the bullpen. As a staff, Eagle pitchers have compiled an impressive 3.42 ERA and have recorded 79 strikeouts through eight games.
Probable starting pitcher match ups for the weekend are:
Friday 3/1 6:30 p.m. – RHP
Matt Pierpont (1-0) vs. RHP Ben Lively (2-0)
Saturday 3/2 4:00 p.m. – RHP
Tyler Klitsch (0-1) vs. RHP Danny Davis (2-0)
Sunday 3/3 1:00 p.m. – RHP Joey Strain (0-1) vs. TBD
All three games can be heard on the Winthrop Sports Network via www.winthropeagles.com.
