Box Score

ROCK HILL, SC -- The Winthrop baseball team outslugged Furman with a 13 run offensive outburst in a 13-4 victory Wednesday night at The Winthrop Ballpark.
 
Leighton Daniels, Matt Lobacz, Clay Altman, and Austen Barber led the Eagles in the offensive eruption combining for ten hits, six RBI's, and five runs scored in Winthrop's largest run output all season.  A big seven-run fourth inning highlighted by Lobacz's two-run blast over the right field fence put the Eagles in control and powered Winthrop to its most lopsided win since the 2011 season.  The Eagles added to their lead with a run in the fifth, four in the sixth, and one more run in the seventh to provide reliever Jared Keels (1-2) with plenty of support as he locked up his first career win as a Winthrop Eagle.  Keels held the Paladins to just one run on four hits over four innings of reliever while fanning five.
 
The second straight win for Winthrop improves its record to 12-22 (2-7 Big South) while Furman drops to 18-13 on the 2013 campaign.  The Eagles look to continue their hot hitting and solid defense in a three-game weekend series against Big South Conference rival Coastal Carolina (20-12, 7-2) at The Winthrop Ballpark.  The teams are slated for a 6 p.m. game on Friday, 3 p.m. game on Saturday, and a 1 p.m. game on Sunday.
 
The Paladins were first to get on the scoreboard in the third inning when left fielder Griffin Davis led off the inning with a single to left field off of Eagles' starter Mitchell Knox and came around to score on a double to the center field fence by Andrew MacLatchie.
 
The Eagles broke the game open in the fourth as Winthrop hitters reached Furman starter Elliott Warford (0-5) for seven runs on six hits to take a commanding 7-1 lead.  Jace Whitley led off the inning with a single to right field and came around to score when Lobacz launched his first home run of the season over the right field wall.  Altman and Chad Smith kept things going with back-to-back singles into left field.  Both runners then moved up 90 feet as Max Vogel reached base on a fielding error by the pitcher.  With one out and the bases full of Eagles, Barber stepped to the plate and hammered a single to right field scoring Altman from third.  Smith and Vogel both came around to score when Michael Patrick reached base on a fielder's choice and a throwing error by the third baseman.  Daniels then stepped to the plate and cleared the bases with a two-run single to right field to give the Eagles a six run lead after four innings of play.
 
Both teams traded runs in the fifth as Will Muzika roped an RBI single to left field for the Paladins in the top half of the inning while the Eagles answered with a bases loaded walk by Patrick to bump the lead back to six.
 
Winthrop extended their lead in the sixth as the first four hitters reached base safely en route to a four run inning.  Taking advantage of three Paladin fielding errors and RBI's from Vogel and Barber, the Eagles increased their lead to 12-2.
 
Winthrop tacked on another run in the seventh after Luke Maldonado led off the inning with a single to center field and eventually came around to score on a couple of wild pitches by reliever Matt Plate. 
 
A two-run single to left field by pinch hitter Harrison Farmer cut into the Eagles' lead in the eighth but the deficit proved to be too much as senior reliever Eric Ruth issued a scoreless ninth to hammer down the 13-4 victory for the Eagles.
 
Winthrop head coach Tom Riginos saw a lot of positives in Wednesday night's win over Furman.  “We keep playing solid defense and I like our approach at the plate.  Our situational hitting is outstanding right now,” commented Riginos after the game.  “I was really proud of Keels.  He did what needed to do and gave us a big lift.”
 
The Eagles' offensive is starting to come together as Winthrop hitters have combined for 35 hits in the last three games and are averaging over six runs and nine hits per game over the last eight games.
 
Daniels continues to scorch the ball at the plate with 11 hits, five RBI, and five runs scored over the past four games.  Altman cashed in his tenth multi-hit game this season with his three hit performance on Wednesday while Patrick has provided consistency at the plate as he has reached base safely in seven straight games.