ROCK HILL, SC—Members of the 1995 baseball team will be honored on Saturday, April 18, as Winthrop observes the 20^th anniversary of that team's march to the first NCAA tournament appearance in school history.    
 
Winthrop will be hosting UNC Asheville at 3 p.m. that day.  Members of 1995 team who are able to attend will be treated to a tour of The Winthrop Ballpark facilities beginning at 1 p.m. followed by an Eagle Club Hospitality Barbeque in the Eagles Nest area. The team will be introduced on the field during pregame ceremonies beginning at 2:45.
 
The 1995 squad, coached by Joe Hudak, and led on the field by the pitching of All-American Bryan Link and the hitting of Tony Costantino, Jeff Cisar and Jeremy Keller finished the season with a 41-17-2 record as it rose to No. 24 in the national rankings.  Along the way, the Eagles knocked off No. 1 Florida State, won 27 of its last 33 games heading into NCAA play, and captured the regular season Big South Conference title with an 18-6 record.  They compiled a 24-5-2 home record.
 
After winning the Big South title, they earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, but first had to win a best-of-three NCAA play-in series with MEAC champion Coppin State in order to advance to the Clemson Regional. The Eagles took care of Coppin State 6-3 and 6-2 to advance.
 
It was on to Clemson's Doug Kingsmore Stadium for the six-team East Regional and a date with nationally ranked Alabama in the first round.  Behind Link's dominating pitching performance, Winthrop sent the Crimson Tide into the loser's bracket with a 4-0 victory.  Winthrop took care of Richmond, 9-8, in the semifinals of the winner's bracket before being unable to hold on to a late-inning lead in a 9-5 loss to Clemson.  The season came to an end when Alabama gained revenge with a 14-0 win.
 
That team led the Big South in hitting and pitching. The Eagles finished the season with a .306 batting average and had seven players finish with averages above .300.  Costantino was the team's leading hitter with a .379 average. The pitching staff, led by Link, had the best earned run average in the Big South Conference at 3.25
 
The complete alphabetical roster from the 1995 season is as follows: Jim Abbott (RHP) Scott Bradshaw (OF, catcher), Jeff Cisar (SS), John Coble (OF), Joe Colameco (OF), Mike Condon (RHP), Tony Costantino (OF), Tom Derwin (2B), Bryan Dunn (C), Scott Harmon (RHP), Travis Hollingsworth (3B), Jeremy Keller (1B), Rick Kobsik (1B), Ryan Lambert (LHP), Bryan Link (LHP), Marc Lubioto (LHP), Jason Martin (1B), David Peek (LHP), Jamie Singer  (C), Chris Wilson (RHP), Page Wofford (RHP), Garret Zohner (OF).
 
The assistant coaches on Hudak's staff were Gary Murphy and John Danko.