MONTGOMERY, AL—The Winthrop Eagles baseball team dropped the decisive Game 3 of the series with Alabama State in a walk-off 11-10 loss Sunday afternoon.
Winthrop grabbed the early 1-0 lead in the top of the 1
st.
Anthony Paulsen doubled and later advanced to third and then home on two wild pitches.
The Hornets responded with a run of their own when Yamil Pagan stole home in the bottom of the 1
st to even the score at 1-1.
The Eagles seized the lead once again in the top of the 3
rd when Gonzalez reached on an Alabama State error with the bases loaded sending Brandon Fite home. However, the Hornets responded in the bottom of the inning with two hits and two runs making it 3-2.
Winthrop battled back with a five run 4
th inning behind six hits, one of which was a Paulsen three run homer. Alabama State evened the score once again at 7-7 when they added four runs and a homer of their own in the bottom of the 4
th.
Defense held solid until the top of the 8
th when the Eagles went out to a 9-7 lead thanks to a two run RBI single from
Babe Thomas. The Hornets quickly came back when Carlos Ocasio hit his second two run homer of the game in the bottom of the 8
th.
Winthrop added a run to take the lead in the top of the 9
th when
Mitch Spires scored on a sacrifice fly from
Kyle Edwards. But Alabama State rallied for two runs behind four hits in the bottom of the 9
th with Pagan singled for the 11-10 walk-off win.
Paulsen finished the afternoon 3 for 4 with 3 RBIs. Spires went 3 for 5 scoring two runs.
Winthrop's left handed starter Zach Sightler went 3.1 innings with three strikeouts.
Freddie Sultan provided solid relief going 3.2 innings compiling four strikeouts.
Thad Harris was credited with the loss (0-1).
The Eagles, 5-3, will conclude their road trip with a mid-week game at the University of North Carolina this Wednesday, Mar. 2 at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill, NC. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
For the latest information on the Winthrop Baseball team, follow @WinthropBasebal on Twitter or go to
www.winthropeagles.com.