Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

ROCK HILL, SC --  The Winthrop baseball team drops a pair to Radford, 6-5 (13 innings) and 11-7, in Saturday's Big South Conference doubleheader in Radford, Va.
 
In the Eagles' longest game this season, it took Winthrop and Radford 13 innings and four hours to determine Game One.  With a 4-4 tie in the 13^th inning and runners on first and third for the Eagles, sophomore third baseman Chad Smith drove a single up the middle scoring Clay Altman from third and giving Winthrop the go-ahead run.  The Highlanders answered right back in the bottom half of the inning when pinch hitter Shane Johnsonbaugh reached on a hit by pitch and was brought around to score on a double down the left field line by Patrick Marshall tying the game back up at 5-5.  With one out in the inning, Jared Keels (0-2) intentionally walked back to back batters to load the bases to set up a double play situation.  However, the next hitter, Jeff Kemp, worked Keels to a full count and eventually drew a walk bringing in Marshall from third and giving the Highlanders the 6-5 victory.
 
The nightcap wasn't as close despite the six-run second inning offensive explosion for the Eagles.  Radford battled back with 11 unanswered runs including four runs in the second and sixth innings en route to the 11-7 win in Game Two.
 
The pair of losses drops Winthrop to 10-21 on the season including 2-6 in the Big South while the Highlander's sixth straight victory improves them to 18-11 this season and 6-2 in the Big South.  The Eagles look to avoid the series sweep Sunday as the teams will take the field again in a 2 p.m. ballgame.
 
The Eagles were strong out of the gate in Game One as they managed to put two runs on the board in the first.  Sophomore Jace Whitley started things out for Winthrop with his first career triple down the right field line in his second three-hit performance of the season.  Cody Dolan followed with a walk and promptly stole second base.  Clay Altman then stepped to the plate and drove a 1-2 pitch to right field for a single scoring Whitley.  With one out in the inning, the next hitter, Max Vogel, laid down a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher squeezing Dolan in from third to give the Eagles a 2-0 early advantage. 
 
Radford battled back scoring a run in the third on a sacrifice fly from Kemp and a pair of runs in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead.  The back-and-forth trend in this game continued as Winthrop added a run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Chad Smith to tie the game at 3-3.  Radford answered with a run in the seventh and Winthrop, likewise, added a run in the eighth on Smith's second sacrifice fly of the game to tie the game at 4-4 and ultimately send the game into extra innings.
 
Relievers Joey Strain and Michael Costello (1-1) managed to hold each team's offense at bay as they carried the 4-4 ballgame into the 13^th.  Winthrop was the first to strike in extra innings with Smith's third RBI of the game on a single up the middle scoring Altman giving the Eagles a 5-4 lead.  Radford had other things in mind, however, as the Highlanders tied the game in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI double by Marshall.  With one runner on, Keels intentionally walked the next two batters to load the bases and to get to Kemp.  Keels battled back from a 2-0 count to get Kemp to a full count but eventually allowed the walk bringing in Marshall from third and giving the Highlanders the 6-5 victory in 13 innings.
 
The Eagles started out strong in Game Two as they put up six runs in the second inning which is the most they have scored in a single inning this season.  Whitley led off the game with a walk followed by a single to center field by Smith.  After being advanced up a base on a sacrifice bunt, catcher Austen Barber shot the first pitch he saw through the left side scoring Whitley.  After a walk to Kyle Edwards, the bases were juiced for Michael Patrick who hammered a double down the left field line scoring Smith and Barber and giving the Eagles a 3-0 lead.  Winthrop was not finished as Leighton Daniels then stepped to the plate and slapped a single up the middle scoring Patrick and Edwards upping the lead to 5-0.  After a pitching change, Altman welcomed reliever Ryan Meisinger (2-0) with a double down the right field line scoring Daniels and giving the Eagles a 6-0 lead.
 
It was all Highlanders the rest of the way as Radford went on to score 11 unanswered runs.  After the single to Altman, Meisinger went on to retire 15 straight Eagle hitters.  Radford answered Winthrop's big second inning with one of their own as they hit up starter Sam Kmiec (1-4) for four runs in the bottom half of the inning.  They added a pair of runs in the fifth on a two-run blast by Kemp over the left field wall to tie the game at 6-6.  Radford pulled away in the sixth with a four-run explosion and added a single run in the eighth as well.  Winthrop continued to fight in the ninth as it managed to plate a run on an RBI single Daniels, however, deficit was too much as the Highlanders went on to win 11-7.
 
Despite the losses, Saturday's doubleheader featured strong individual offensive performances.  Whitley's three-hit performance in Game One ties his career high while he had a personal best three runs scored as well.  Smith set a career-high with three runs batted in Game One while Daniels had a big game at the plate in the night cap tying his career best in hits in a game (4) and RBI's in a game (3).
 
Winthrop will send right-hander Tyler Klitsch (1-5) to mound for Sunday's 2 p.m. matchup while the Highlanders will counter with righty Keith Fritz (1-2).
 
Sunday's action can be followed via Radford's live stats, audio and video feed available on www.winthropeagles.com and www.ruhighlanders.com.