Winthrop Game Notes
UMES Prospectus

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Winthrop baseball will host its first home series of the 2018 season Fri.-Sun., Feb. 23-25 against University of Maryland-Eastern Shore. First pitch on Opening Day at Winthrop Ballpark is slated for 4 p.m. with first pitch for game two on Saturday and game three on Sunday set for 3 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. The weekend will be the first action of the season for the Hawks as their first five games were canceled due to weather. 
 
  

Winthrop (0-5) vs. UM Eastern Shore (0-0) –Winthrop Ballpark
Date	Friday, Feb. 23	Saturday, Feb. 24	Sunday, Feb. 25
First Pitch	4 p.m. ET	3 p.m. ET	1 p.m. ET
Live Stats	Click here	Click here	Click here
TV/Live Stream	Big South Network	--	--
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PROBABLE ROTATION
Winthrop:
Friday – RHP Zach Peek (0-1, 10.80 ERA) 
Saturday – RHP Nate Pawelczyk (0-0, 1.50 ERA)  
Sunday – RHP Colten Rendon (0-1, 7.94 ERA) 

UMES:
Friday – Toby Hoskins
Saturday – Evan Bertone
Sunday – Marty Tolson

SERIES HISTORY
The Eagles and Hawks have met five times in program history with Winthrop holding a 4-1 advantage, mostly recently taking a three-game series sweep in 2015.
 
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
The Eagles are 33-5 all-time in home openers, including winning their past five consecutive home lid-lifters.
 
ROCKY ROAD
The Eagles have had a tough stretch to open the season with five road games in six days, including a three-game series at top-ten team Ole Miss and a visit to SEC opponent South Carolina. Winthrop will be on the road again Tuesday visiting in-state foe Clemson.
 
TEAM SNAPSHOT
Winthrop is hitting .200 (32-for-160) as a team with a .280 on base percentage. The Eagles have recorded 7 errors as a squad, retaining a .958 fielding percentage overall.
 
PRESEASON FAVORITES
Winthrop has been predicted to win the Big South Conference by the league's coaches and D1Baseball.com. 

EXPERIENCE RETURNING
Winthrop returns eight of its top 10 batters from 2017, including Mitch Spires who led the Eagles in batting average (.345), hits (76) and runs (49). 2017 RBI-leader (60) Hunter Lipscomb also returns. Lipscomb's .292 average was good for third on last year's squad. 

Winthrop loses only one pitcher who took the mound for 10 or more appearances in 2017, returning seven of its top eight pitchers. The Eagles boast two pitchers named Big South Preseason Pitcher of the Year by various publications, Nate Pawelczyk and Zach Peek.

Junior Nate Pawelczyk was voted Big South Preseason Pitcher of the Year by the league's coaches and D1Baseball.com. Pawelczyk was a 2017 First-Team All-Big South honoree, ranked first in the league with a 2.23 ERA, first in the league with seven wins, first in the league in opponent batting average (.192), first in the league in runs allowed with 23, second in the league in earned runs with 19, third in the league in hits allowed with 53, led the team in strikeouts with 69, third on the team in innings pitched (76.2) and starts (11). 

Sophomore Zach Peek (2017: 5-1, 3.70 ERA) was also named Big South Preseason Pitcher of the Year by Perfect Game. Peek is ranked 49th overall in PG USA Top 100 draft prospects for 2019. The Eagles also return 2017 Big South Freshman of the Year and Freshman All-American Colten Rendon (2017: 7-5, 4.19 ERA) on the mound. Rendon was second on the team in innings pitched (86.0) in 2017.

TICKETS
Season tickets are available for Winthrop baseball for $70 each. Saturday mini plans are available for just $25. Click here for tickets