CHAPEL HILL, NC—The Winthrop Eagles' baseball team dropped an 11-6 decision to the #6 ranked North Carolina Tarheels Wednesday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium.
North Carolina jumped to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st off of a sacrifice fly from center fielder Tyler Ramirez.
The Tarheels added another run in the 2nd inning thanks to two hits, one coming from third baseman Zach Gahagan and another from first baseman Brian Miller.
Winthrop responded in the top of the 3rd with a pair of hits and three runs of their own. The Eagles' third baseman Mitch Spires took advantage of the bases loaded with a hard hit double down the first base line, sending two runners home to even the score at 2-2. Left fielder Tyler Asbill later scored on Roger Gonzalez's fielder's choice ground ball to give Winthrop a 3-2 lead.
North Carolina knotted the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the 3rd and the score remained tied until the Eagles took a 5-3 lead in the top of the 7th. Asbill led the inning off with a single to center field. Spires then reached on an error, followed by an Anthony Paulsen single to load the bases. Gonzalez then grounded out to advance the runners and send Asbill home. Center fielder Babe Thomas added another run with a single up the middle allowing Spires to score.
The Tarheels' shortstop Eli Sutherland led off the bottom of the 7th with a solo home run to cut the deficit to 5-4. North Carolina tied the game when Ramirez was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. UNC took the lead when Tyler Lynn reached on a fielder's choice. They extended to an 11-5 lead with four more hits that inning.
Winthrop was able to add a run in the 8th inning with back to back doubles from Jace Whitley and Mark Lowrie.
The Eagles were unable to rally in the top of the 9th losing by a final score of 11-6. Despite their losing efforts Winthrop connected for 10 hits on the afternoon. Spires was 3 for 4 and Asbill was 2 for 5. However the Eagles committed four costly errors during the game.
The Eagles, 5-4, will return home for a three game series against Rhode Island at the Winthrop Ballpark beginning this Friday, Mar. 4. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
For the latest information on the Winthrop Baseball team, follow @WinthropBasebal on Twitter or go to www.winthropeagles.com.
