Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

ROCK HILL, SC --  Winthrop split Saturday's twinbill with Liberty with a 3-2 win in Game One followed by a 4-1 loss in the nightcap at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
 
Senior right-hander Matt Pierpont (3-4) paved the way for Winthrop in Game One of Saturday's Big South doubleheader with his second complete game win of the season leading the Eagles to a 3-2 victory and a season-high third straight win.  Pierpont, fourth in the Big South in innings pitching going into Saturday, added to those numbers as he went the distance for the Eagles while allowing just two runs and scattering 11 hits while fanning seven and walking just one.  Pierpont got the offensive support he needed from fellow senior Matt Lobacz, who put the Eagles on top early with a two-out, two-run single in the third. Clay Altman (4 for 4 in the game) added a run in the fifth on a RBI single through the left side scoring Cody Dolan which proved to be enough as Pierpont closed out the game and hammered down the 3-2 win for the Eagles.
 
Strong starting pitching lifted the Flames over Winthrop in Game Two as Liberty starter Brooks Roy (5-4) kept the Eagles off balance in seven solid innings of three-hit baseball.  The Eagles struggled to find a rhythm against Roy, as the right-hander settled in after allowing a run in the first and blanked Winthrop the six straight innings striking out five and walking two en route to a 4-1 win evening the series at 1-1.
 
The double-dip split moves Winthrop to 15-26 on the season and 3-11 in the Big South while Liberty is now 21-19 including 7-7 in the conference.  Winthrop looks to win its first conference series this season in the series finale on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.  The Eagles also hope to win their first series over Liberty since the 2010 season.
 
Liberty got on the board first in the second inning of Game One on an RBI infield single from Justin Sizemore scoring Danny Grauer from third to take an early 1-0 lead.  However, with two outs and two runners on in the top of the third Lobacz came through with a two-run single up middle off Flames starter Carson Herndon (3-5) scoring Leighton Daniels and Dolan to put the Eagles on top 2-1.  Daniels notably extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a pair of hits in Game One.
 
After Dolan and Lobacz led off the Eagles' half of the fifth with a pair of hits, Altman delivered his third hit of the day scoring Dolan from third and giving the Eagles a 3-1 lead.  Altman was perfect at the plate in Game One against Liberty going four for four in his second four-hit performance of the season. 
 
Liberty got a run back in the sixth on a two- out RBI single from Jake Kimble to cut the deficit to one, however, Pierpont was in command as maneuvered his way through 11 Liberty hits and stranded 10 base runners.  After giving up the run in the sixth, Pierpont closed out the game putting zeros up on the board for the final three innings and wrapping up the 3-2 win for the Eagles.
 
Daniels got things started for the Eagles in Game Two with a leadoff double to right-center and was eventually ushered home on a balk by Flames' starter Brooks Roy to give the Eagles an early 1-0 lead.  The leadoff double from Daniels' extended his hitting streak to a team-high 11 games.   The Winthrop lead did not last long, however, as Liberty plated solo runs in four of the next five innings off Winthrop right-hander Tyler Klitsch (1-8) to put the Flames on top 4-1.  Klitsch was lifted in the sixth as Josh Strong and Joey Strain combined to provide 2.1 innings of scoreless relief holding the Flames to a three run lead. 
 
Winthrop's offensive struggles continued late in the game as Aston Perritt was summoned from the Flames' bullpen in the eighth and followed Roy's trend as he threw two shutout innings of one-hit relief to wrap up the 4-1 win over the Eagles in Game Two.
 
The teams return to the field for the series finale at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday.  The Eagles will send freshman southpaw Sam Kmiec (2-5) to the mound while the Flames counter with right-hander Trey Lambert (5-3).  Kmiec collected his second win of the season earlier in the week against Charlotte as he held the 49ers to just one run on five hits in five innings of work.
 
Sunday's game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and live stats can be followed at www.winthropeagles.com