Box Score CLEMSON, SC—The Winthrop Eagles' baseball squad dropped a hard-fought 4-3 decision to No. 20 ranked Clemson when the Tigers rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning at the Doug Kingsmore Stadium Wednesday afternoon.

With the loss, Winthrop falls to 7-6 on the year while Clemson is now 9-2.

The Eagles struck first with an early run in the top of the 1^st inning when catcher Roger Gonzalez sent left fielder Tyler Asbill home on a sacrifice fly to right field.

Both pitching staffs held strong until the top of the 5^th when Winthrop was able to add another two runs to their lead.  After consecutive singles from Jace Whitley and Mark Lowrie, Brandon Fite advanced both base runners with a sacrifice bunt. Whitley then scored on a wild pitch and Lowrie advanced to third.  Asbill executed another sacrifice bunt for the Eagles sending Lowrie home for the 3-0 lead.

Clemson responded in the bottom of the 5^th cutting in to the deficit by finally getting a run on the board.  With the bases loaded, lefty Riley Arnone hit the Tigers' Chris Okey advancing a Clemson base runner to home.

The Tigers continued to rally in the bottom of the 9^th.  Seth Beer hit a deep double to center field driving in two Clemson base runners to tie the game at 3-3.  Moments later Robert Jolly knocked in the winning run with a hard hit ball down the left field line.

Winthrop's starting RHP pitcher Thad Harris went three innings while only allowing two hits.  Zach Cook received the loss after pitching four innings allowing three runs on four hits while compiling four strikeouts along the way.

Winthrop will return home for a three game weekend series against Miami (OH).  Game 1 is scheduled for Friday, Mar. 11 at the Winthrop Ballpark beginning at 4:00 pm.

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