MONTGOMERY, AL—The Winthrop Eagles baseball squad responded from their two game losing streak with a 10-9 victory over Alabama State Saturday afternoon at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex.

Winthrop snatched the early lead scoring in the top of the 1st when Roger Gonzalez sent Anthony Paulsen home on a double to center field.  The Hornets quickly evened the score at 1-1 with a run of their own in the bottom of the 1st.

The Eagles scored another run in the top of the 4th when Mitch Spires sent Gonzalez home on a single.  

Winthrop would stretch the lead even further in the 5th when Paulsen sent Tyler Asbill home for a 3-1 score.  After Paulsen and Babe Thomas advanced to 2nd and 3rd on a wild pitch, Gonzalez sent Thomas home with another hit.  Paulsen was later advanced for a 5-1 lead off of a Jace Whitley sacrifice fly.

Alabama State added two more runs, one in the 5th and one in the 6th making it 5-3.

The Eagles exploded for five runs in the top of the 7th off of three hits and one error by the Hornets.  

The Hornets attempted to rally back from the 10-3 deficit with three runs in the bottom of the 8th and three in the bottom of the 9th but the Eagles defense held strong for the 10-9 win.

Both squads finished with 13 hits each on the night.  While Winthrop was errorless in the field, Alabama State produced three errors boosting the Eagles to victory.

Winthrop southpaw Sam Kmiec picked up his second win on the season, notching six strikeouts and allowing eight hits along the way.

Gonzalez' bat remained hot going 2 for 3 on the afternoon with 2 RBIs.  Paulsen was 2 for 5 with an RBI of his own and scored three runs.

The Eagles, 5-2, will play the decisive Game 3 of the series tomorrow, Feb. 28 beginning at 2:00 p.m. at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex in Montgomery, Alabama.

For the latest information on the Winthrop Baseball team, follow @WinthropBasebal on Twitter or go to www.winthropeagles.com.