ROCK HILL, SC—The Winthrop baseball team erupted for an 11-run sixth inning and went on to claim a 12-5 victory over Maine on a damp Saturday afternoon at The Winthrop Ballpark.

The Eagles are now 2-0 over the Black Bears.  The two teams will close out the three-game series on Sunday at 12 noon.

Maine starting pitcher Jonah Normandeau was breezing along with a 2-0 lead after five innings when the Eagles broke the game open in the sixth inning.

Winthrop banged out seven hits and took advantage of three bases on balls and a Maine fielding error.  The big hits in the inning included a two-run triple by Mitch Spires, his second on
the season, followed by a two-run home run for sophomore Hunter Lipscomb, the second long ball of the year and his career. 

Maine took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning off Eagle starter Thad Harris.  The Black Bears got three hits off Harris, but two of those came in the fourth on a double by Danny Casals and a single by Hernin Sardinas which was sandwiched around a walk issued to Jonathan Bennett.

The Black Bears added two more runs in the seventh and another in the eighth off Eagle relievers Dalton Whitaker and Carson Gregory.  Winthrop's final run of the game came on a solo home run by Grant English in the bottom of the seventh.  It the second career HR for the Eagle sophomore.

Ten of Winthrop's 11 hits were recorded by five players.  Brandon Fite went 2 for 4 at the plate while Spires and Lipscomb had 2 for 5 performances, and English and Jake Sullivan were 2 for 3.

Brandon Vicens was the only multi-hit player for Maine as he had two of the seven Black Bear hits off four Winthrop pitchers.

Whitaker (1-0), a JUCO transfer, was credited with his first Div. I win while Normandeau (0-1) suffered the loss.