COLUMBIA, SC—The Winthrop Eagles baseball squad suffered their first loss of the season 16-4 to the #15 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks Wednesday afternoon at Founders Park.
South Carolina jumped to an early lead scoring in the 1st inning for the first time this season. The Gamecocks got to Winthrop lefty Freddie Sultan early on as he yielded six runs on three hits, walked two batters and hit another in the home half of the first. The big blow was a three-run homer by South Carolina right fielder TJ Hopkins.
The Gamecocks added a pair of runs in the 2nd inning stretching their lead to 8-0.
Winthrop was able to get on the scoreboard when Roger Gonzalez led the 3rd inning off with a double. Gonzalez was later sent home when Mark Lowrie singled on a ground ball up the middle.
An additional three runs from South Carolina in the 6th extended the Gamecocks' lead to 11-1.
The Eagles grabbed another run in the top of the 7th when Casey Parker took advantage of the first error of the afternoon from the Gamecocks advancing home.
South Carolina's offense stayed hot widening the gap to 16-2 in the bottom of the 7th on four hits, two walks, one hit batter, and the Eagles' first error of the afternoon.
Winthrop rallied for a couple runs in the 9th but South Carolina's lead proved to be too large to overcome as the Eagles fell 16-4. The Gamecock offense and its timely hitting was the story of the afternoon as the Eagles were out-hit 15-10. Both teams finished the afternoon with two errors.
Sultan took the loss for the Eagles while Tyler Haswell picked up the win for the Gamecocks.
The Eagles, 4-1, will continue their road trip when they travel to face Alabama State this weekend. Game 1 of the series will begin at 6:00 pm Friday, Feb. 26 at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex in Montgomery, Alabama.
