ROCK HILL, SC- The Winthrop baseball team will be looking to improve on its best season start in four years as the Eagles head to Jacksonville for a three-game series this weekend.

The Eagles and Dolphins are set to play on Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday at 1:00 p.m.  Jacksonville leads the series 4-1.

Winthrop is 5-3 on the season, which is the best start since the 2010 team started 7-0. Winthrop is coming off its best offensive performance of the young season against USC Upstate on Tuesday with a 20-hit from eight different players. Junior captain TJ Olesczuk tied a school record going 5 for 5 on the night that raised his average to .500. Junior third baseman Chad Smith had his second four-hit game in his career and had three RBIs.
On the mound, Winthrop hopes the combination of Sam Kmiec (4.35 ERA), Joey Strain (1.80) and Josh Strong (4.66) will be effective against the Dolphins offense.

Jacksonville (1-6) is trying to snap a four- game losing streak, falling most recently to UCF 5-3 at home.  Michael Babb, Garret Ruckel and Parker Perez are leading the way on offense for the Dolphins as all three are batting above .300.

Head Coach Tim Montez is in his first season as head coach after serving eight seasons as the assistant/pitching coach for the Dolphins.