Box Score

ROCK HILL, SC -- Strong pitching and solid defense paved the way for the Eagles in a 2-1 victory over East Tennessee State Tuesday Night in Johnson City.
 
Freshman starting pitcher Joey Strain (1-2) collected his first career collegiate win in his best start of the season on the mound holding the Buccaneers to only one run on eight hits while whiffing three over five innings.  Strain received strong support out of the bullpen as Steven Howell, Josh Strong, Jared Keels, and Eric Ruth combined in the final four innings to hammer down the victory for the Eagles.

The Eagles improve their record to 5-11 as they have won back-to-back games for the first time this season and remain unbeaten with a 6-0 all-time record with East Tennessee. The loss drops ETSU to 9-4 on the season.  Winthrop looks to extend its winning streak to three games on Friday as Rhode Island comes to Rock Hill for a three-game weekend series at The Winthrop Ballpark.
 
“I'm really proud of the way the team played today,” stated head coach Tom Riginos.  “The whole story of this game came down to pitching.  Joey Strain took a huge step forward and the guys behind him had their A game.”
 
Although Stephen Wallace failed to record a hit on the evening, he was responsible for both of Winthrop's runs as he drove in Clay Altman on a sacrifice fly in the second and Cody Dolan on a fielder's choice in the fourth for the first two RBIs of his career. 
 
Riginos was very pleased with Wallace's approach at the plate.  “Stephen Wallace did an outstanding job.  It's about production and he (Wallace) had two productive at-bats.”
 
ETSU collected 12 hits on the night, however, Winthrop pitchers were able to limit the damage stranding 10 Buccaneer base runners.
 
The two RBI at-bats by Wallace gave the Eagles a 2-0 cushion going into the bottom of the fourth.  The Buccaneers scored their only run in the fourth on a RBI single by Alex Reynolds off Strain scoring Derek Niesman from third.  However, it would be all Eagles the rest of the game as Winthrop pitchers did not allow another run the rest of the game. 
 
Ruth was summoned from the bullpen in the eighth as he completed the five-out save, his second of the year, while striking out four..  “That was one of the best performances I've seen from him (Ruth) in the three years I've been here,”  said Riginos. 
 
Although the hits were scarce for Winthrop, Altman continues to be a terror at the plate for opposing pitching as he was able to bang out two hits and score a run against the Buccaneers.  Altman has now hit safely in four straight games and has seven multi-hit games on the season.
 
The Eagles will see ETSU again next week as the Buccaneers travel to Rock Hill on Wednesday for a 6:00 p.m. ballgame.