ROCK HILL, SC -- The Winthrop baseball team resumes Big South Conference play this weekend against Gardner-Webb in a three game set at The Winthrop Ballpark.
 
Winthrop has split a pair of games so far this week with a big 8-4 win over Davidson followed by a 6-2 loss to North Carolina in Chapel Hill Wednesday afternoon.  The Eagles opened up Tuesday night's game against Davidson strong as they plated four runs on five hits in the first inning with six straight batters reached base.  Winthrop then put the game away by scoring one run in the sixth, two in the seventh and another in the eighth.  The eight runs are the most scored by the Eagles this season.  Freshman right-hander Joey Strain got credit for the win on the mound improving his season record to 2-3. 
 
On Wednesday, the Eagles traveled to Chapel Hill, NC to take on #1 North Carolina.  UNC got on the board right out of the gate as the Tar Heels hit up Eagles starting pitcher Mitchell Knox (1-1) for two runs in the first.  After the two-run first, Knox settled in nicely and held the Tar Heels scoreless for the next five innings.  Winthrop tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth when the Eagles reached Trent Thronton (5-0) for two runs.  However, the Tar Heels broke the game open with a four-run seventh inning highlighted by a three-run home run blast to right-center field by Colin Moran giving the Tar Heels a 6-2 lead and ultimately the victory. 
 
Winthrop, 8-17 (1-2 Big South), now turns its attention to conference rival Gardner-Webb who has combined a 13-11-1 (2-4 Big South) record this season.  The teams are scheduled to for a 6:00 p.m. on Friday and a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 2:00 p.m.
 
The Eagles are 33-7 all-time against the Runnin' Bulldogs including 21-3 at home.  Winthrop took two out of three games when the teams met last year in Boiling Springs , NC .  Gardner-Webb has dropped five out of its last six games including its last three.
 
The leading force behind the success of Runnin' Bulldogs has been the pitching staff.  Collectively they maintain an impressive 2.84 team ERA while holding opposing teams to a .239 batting average and just over four runs per game.  The staff is led by its starting pitching including Erik Heiligenstadt (3-1), Andrew Barnett (1-1), and Matt Fraudin (3-2).  At the dish, Gardner-Webb is led by Benji Jackson (.343 avg.) who shares a team leading 15 RBI's and JJ Nazzaro (.295 avg.) who leads the team in runs scored with 16.  As a team, they are hitting .248 on the season while averaging 4.6 runs per game.
 
The Eagles' outfielder Cody Dolan, hitting .322 on the year, extended his hitting streak to six games earlier in the week as he continues his strong season at the plate.  Luke Maldonado (.323 avg.) has come on strong for the Eagles offensively as of late while Chad Smith's bat has come alive as well with RBI hits in each of the last three games.
 
The ticket window at The Winthrop Ballpark will open an hour before each game. All three games can also be heard on the Winthrop Sports Network via www.winthropeagles.com.