ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop baseball team looks to rebound from two losses when the Eagles host Davidson a mid-week matchup on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at The Winthrop Ballpark.
 
Winthrop is coming off a pair of losses in Saturday's doubleheader against Presbyterian College.  The Eagles opened up the Big South opening series with a 3-1 victory Friday night.  Senior pitcher Matt Pierpont was in complete command as he collected his first complete game victory of the season while holding the Blue Hose to one run on eight hits and striking out six.
 
Sunday rain showers forced the teams into a doubleheader on Saturday.  Nine innings weren't enough to determine the winner of Game 1 as the teams battled into extra innings with the game locked at 3-3.  In the top of the tenth, Nathan Chong came to bat for the Blue Hose and slapped a single through the left side and eventually stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch.  The next batter Brad Zebedis hit a sacrifice fly ball to right field scoring Chong from third for the go-ahead and winning run.  Although the Eagles got out to an early 2-0 lead in Game 2, the night cap wasn't nearly as close as Presbyterian went on to score eight unanswered runs en route to a convincing 9-3 victory.
 
The Eagles carry a 7-16 (1-2 Big South) record into Tuesday's non-conference game against Davidson (8-14) at The Winthrop Ballpark.  Winthrop will see the Wildcats again April 16^th when the Eagles travel to Davidson.
 
Winthrop holds a 23-10-1 all-time record against the Wildcats.  The last time the programs faced off was in 2001 when the Eagles won 7-0 in Rock Hill.  Davidson is currently in the midst of a five-game losing skid including last weekend's three game sweep at the hands of Southern Conference rival Georgia Southern.  The Wildcats are also currently winless on the road (0-6).
 
Starting pitchers Danny Mooney (3-2) and Ryan Lowe (2-3) have gotten the bulk of the workload for the Wildcats on the mound, while as a staff, they maintain a 5.46 ERA and are allowing opposing hitters a .294 batting average.  At the plate, Davidson has gotten strong offensive production from Forrest Brandt (.347 avg) and Andrew Barna (.311 avg.) while as a team they are averaging just over five runs and nine hits per game.  Wildcat hitters have also struck out 190 times this season (8.6 per game) and walked 80 times (3.6 per game).
 
The Eagles continue to get solid offensive production from outfielder Cody Dolan and first baseman Clay Altman as they both carry a .329 batting average.  Dolan currently maintains a four game hitting streak while Altman has a team-leading nine RBI's.
 
After Tuesday night's game with Davidson, the Eagles will pack up and head to Chapel Hill, NC to take on #1 North Carolina Wednesday afternoon.  The game was originally slated for 6:00 p.m., however, it has been moved to 4:00 p.m. due to forecasts calling for low temperatures Wednesday night.  The Eagles are 3-15 all-time against UNC including last year's meeting when Winthrop fell 0-2 to the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill.
 
Freshman right-hander Joey Strain (1-3) is expected to get the start on the mound for Winthrop on Tuesday while lefty Mitchell Knox (1-1) is expected to get his first start of the season Wednesday afternoon against the Tar Heels.
 
The ticket window at The Winthrop Ballpark will open an hour before Tuesday's game.   Both mid-week games can also be heard on the Winthrop Sports Network via www.winthropeagles.com.