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ROCK HILL, SC – Kim Ryder hit her first career home run as an Eagle but it was not enough to overcome a hot hitting Longwood lineup as Winthrop fell 13-3 in its conference opener to the Lancers Tuesday afternoon at Terry Field.

Ryder, who homered in her lone at-bat also recorded a career-high two RBI.  McKenzi Corn went 2-for-2 at the plate, scoring one run and Chelsey Schoenfeldt was 1-for-2 with a double and one RBI.  Corn, Ryder and Schoenfeldt were bright spots in the Eagle lineup which was forced to battle from behind all game after Longwood posted five runs in the top of the first inning.

“We knew that they could hit the ball,” said head coach Mark Cooke, speaking of the Lancers lineup.  “They really hit the ball well against us today.  We knew coming in that it was going to be a tough matchup for our right handed pitchers facing all of their left handed batters.”

Winthrop (6-9, 0-1) and Longwood (9-4, 1-0) were scheduled to play a double-header Tuesday, however, game two was suspended in the top of the fifth inning with the score tied at six when the rain started to come down. 

“We decided to suspend the game when we did because we wanted to get the tarp on the field so we would not risk losing tomorrow's game,” said Cooke.

Sutton Watson (6-4) picked up the loss in the circle for the Eagles throwing one inning, surrendering four runs, three earned, on four hits.  Brooke Short (7-1) earned the win for the Lancers throwing four innings allowing three hits and one run.

The Lancer lineup was paced at the top by lead-off batter Kori Nishitomi and Megan Baltzell who combined to go 3-for-5 and score six runs.  Emily Murphy was 3-for-3 at the plate and drove in a game-high four RBI while also scoring two runs.

Winthrop and Longwood will resume the suspended game at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday at Terry Field, with the final game of the three game series starting approximately twenty minutes after the conclusion of the suspended game.