ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop baseball team had six players with two hits highlighted by a three-run home run from
Grant English in an 8-1 victory over Radford, Saturday afternoon at Williams Field.
Winthrop claims the Big South Conference regular season title with the win and the number one seed in next week's Big South Tournament. Winthrop finishes the regular season at 31-22 overall and 17-7 in the league. The Eagles will open conference tournament play on Tuesday, May 23 at 4:30 p.m. against 8th-seeded Campbell. With the loss Radford falls to 23-30 overall and 11-13 in the Big South. The Eagles were division champs in 2014, but this is the first regular season title without divisions since 2003.
English led the Eagles at the plate as he had two hits and his three-run home run in the sixth, Tyler
Halstead was 2-for-3 with an RBI and one run, and
Babe Thomas had two hits with a double and an RBI.
The Eagles led 4-0 in the top of the sixth when English hit a three-run bomb to right that scored Scout
McFalls and
Jake Sullivan to create some breathing room.
Winthrop scored in the top of the first when
McFalls led off with a walk, advanced to second on a stolen base and scored on a single to left by
Mitch Spires.
The Eagles made it 2-0 in the top of the fourth when
Halstead scored on a single to right by Sullivan. They added two runs in the top of the fifth when Thomas singled to right that scored Spires from third, advanced to second on a stolen base and scored on a single by
Halstead.
The Highlanders got on the board in the bottom of the sixth when Adam Whitacre singled to left that scored Straton Podaras from third.
Winthrop added an insurance run in the top of the eighth when Spires and Lipscomb started the inning off with back-to-back singles and Spires scored from third when Thomas grounded into a double play.
Winthrop's
Colten Rendon improved to 7-3 as he pitched five scoreless innings. Radford's Ryan Sande falls to 0-4 on the season as he threw two innings, allowing one run on two hits.
For the latest information on Winthrop Baseball team, follow @WinthropBasebal on Twitter or go to
www.winthropeagles.com.
