ROCK HILL, SC -- The Winthrop baseball team carries a two-game winning streak on the road to Radford for a three game Big South Conference series over the weekend against the Highlanders at the Radford University Baseball Stadium.
The Eagles are coming off their best all-around performance this season with a 6-1 win over Wofford on Tuesday evening.
Chad Smith cashed in his second consecutive three-hit game including his first collegiate home run while freshman starter Joey Strain (3-3) put in a strong pitching performance going five innings and allowing just one run (unearned) while striking out four. Winthrop closer
Eric Ruth got his sixth save of the season after surviving a rough eighth inning and striking out the side in the ninth.
Winthrop, 10-19 (2-4 Big South) this season, now turns its attention to Radford who has posted a 16-11 record including 4-2 in conference play. The teams are slated for a 6:30 p.m. game on Friday, 4:00 p.m. game Saturday, and 2:00 p.m. afternoon game on Sunday. The Highlanders carry a four-game winning streak into the weekend series with wins over North Carolina A&T, East Tennessee State, and a pair of wins against Campbell. The Eagles hold a 52-35 advantage all-time over Radford however, the Highlanders took two out of three in the weekend series last season in Rock Hill.
Radford is led offensively by Alexander Lee, Jeff Kemp, Josh Reavis, and Josh Gardiner who are all hitting above .300 on the season. As a team, the Highlanders are swinging the bat at a .261 clip while scoring over five runs per game. Starters Michael Boyle (4-1) and Tyler Costello (3-3) have provided the Highlanders with consistent play on the mound while Jeff Maxwell (3.13 ERA) has been strong out of the bullpen. Collectively, the Radford pitching staff holds a 4.65 ERA while allowing opposing hitters a .283 batting average.
Winthrop looks to continue its strong offensive trend as the Eagles have pounded out 10 hits in back to back games. Senior catch
Austen Barber has come on strong at plate with a .526 batting average in the last six games including a big four-hit game last Sunday. Cody Dolan continues to get himself on base as he scratched out two hits Tuesday night improving his season average to .324. On the bump for the Eagles, Ruth's two innings of scoreless relief lowered his season ERA to a microscopic 0.49 in 18.1 innings of work while
Josh Strong follows suit with a 0.79 ERA in 11.1 innings of middle relief. Starters
Matt Pierpont (2-4),
Tyler Klitsch (1-5), Sam Kmiec (1-3), and Joey Strain (3-3) all continue to battle and provide the team with the opportunity to win as well.
The expected pitching matchups for the weekend are:
Fri. 4/5 6:30 p.m. RHP
Matt Pierpont (2-4) vs. RHP Tyler Costello (3-3)
Sat. 4/6 4:00 p.m. LHP Sam Kmiec (1-3) vs. LHP Michael Boyle (4-1)
Sun. 4/7 2:00 p.m. RHP
Tyler Klitsch (1-5) vs. RHP Keith Fritz (1-2)
All three games of the weekend series can be heard on the Winthrop Sports Network via www.winthropeagles.com.
