ROCK HILL, SC --  The Winthrop baseball team takes the road to Lexington, Virginia for a Big South weekend series with VMI at Gray-Minor Stadium.
 
The Eagles traveled to North Carolina A&T on Wednesday for a non-conference matchup with the Aggies.  However, after two innings of play, they game was cancelled due to heavy rain.  The umpires called a delay at the completion of the second inning because of lightning in the area.  During the delay, rain drenched the field making the surface unplayable.  That is when the umpires officially cancelled the game erasing the action from the first two innings.
 
Winthrop, 17-31(5-13 BSC) on the 2013 season, looks to win its second straight Big South Conference series this season against the VMI Keydets (19-30, 5-13 BSC).  The teams are slated for a 6:00 p.m. game on Friday and Saturday with the series finale on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. 
 
The Eagles are 22-9 all-time against the Keydets including 12-6 in Lexington.  The last time the programs met, the Eagles took two out of three games in Lexington.  Winthrop has won the three straight series' against VMI. 
 
The Keydets are led offensively by Rob Dickinson (.406 avg.), Matt Winn (.358 avg), and Jordan Tarsovich (.315 avg).  Dickinson, 15^th in the NCAA in batting average, leads the team with seven homeruns and 45 runs batted in.  The Keydets are active on the base paths as well with 76 stolen bases this season.  As a team they are hitting .284 while plating 5.5 runs per game.  The Eagles will see left-hander Campbell Henkel (5.31 ERA), right-hander Reed Garrett (6.58 ERA), and lefty Conner Bach (2.86 ERA) over the weekend.  As a staff, the Keydets maintain a 4.63 ERA while holding teams to a .274 batting average.  Keydet pitchers are allowing opponents 5.8 runs per game while striking out 6.2 batters per nine innings.
 
Winthrop heads into the series swinging the bat at a .241 clip as a team while scoring 3.6 runs per game.  Junior outfield Cody Dolan leads the way at the plate for the Eagles with a .310 batting average, 12 doubles, and three home runs while Clay Altman leads the team in RBI's with 20.  Dolan extended his reached base streak to 12 games last weekend while increasing his hitting streak to five games.  The Eagle pitching staff maintains a 3.97 team ERA while holding teams to a .271 batting average.  Winthrop pitchers are also striking out 7.3 hitters per nine innings.
 
The expected pitching matchups for the weekend series are:
5/10       Friday                    6:00 p.m.             RHP Matt Pierpont (4-4) vs. LHP Campbell Henkel (1-6)
5/11       Saturday              6:00 p.m.             LHP Sam Kmiec (3-6) vs. RHP Reed Garrett (2-7)
5/12       Sunday                 2:00 p.m.                           TBA     vs.     LHP Connor Bach (2-4)
 
The weekend series with VMI can be followed on the Winthrop Sports Network via www.winthropeagles.com.