CHARLESTON, SC—The Citadel baseball team handed Winthrop its worst loss ever with a 34-8 victory on Tuesday afternoon at Riley Park.
The 34 runs allowed by eight Eagle pitchers and the 26-run margin breaks the previous records held by Jacksonville in a 23-3 victory over Winthrop on Feb. 26, 1992, The 34 runs and 34 hits are new records for The Citadel and are also the most in a Division I game this year.
The loss drops Winthrop to 7-9 on the season while The Citadel improves to 5-10.
The Bulldogs' offensive attack included four home runs and six doubles. Winthrop finished with eight runs on 12 hits, including a solo home run by shortstop
Mitch Spires in the first inning.
The Citadel was led at the plate by shortstop William Kinney who went 6 for 7 and Jonathan Sabo and Barret Charpia, who were 5 for 8 including a pair of home runs by both players.
Winthrop was led by
Babe Thomas, who had a 3 for 4 day, and
Hunter Lipscomb, who was 2 for 5.
The Citadel jumped on Winthrop starter
Thad Harris (0-4) for five runs on six hits in the first inning, including a two-run HR by designated hitter Charpia and a three-run shot by Sabo. Harris was only able to record two outs before he was lifted for Daniel Wilcutt, who lasted for two innings while giving up five more runs on five hits, including Sabo's second homer of the game, to give the Bulldogs a 10-1 lead.
The Bulldogs made it a 16-1 game with a six-run fourth inning and tacked on 12 more in the fifth inning to take a 28-4 lead as they banged out eight more hits, including Charpia's second HR. They added a single run in the sixth and five more in the eighth.
Winthrop touched Citadel starter Alex Bialakis for three runs in the top of the fifth inning, one in the sixth and three more in the top of the ninth.
The Eagles will play at Charleston Southern in a non-conference game on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Due to the Big South Conference's unbalanced schedule, Winthrop and CSU are playing home-and-home single games this season.
