BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Winthrop baseball (14-17, 7-3 Big South Conference) dropped the series opener on the road at Gardner-Webb (18-14, 5-5 Big South Conference) Friday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED
-The Runnin' Bulldogs jumped on top with three runs in the 1^st and tacked on a two-run homer in the 2^nd for an early 5-0 lead.

-Winthrop was able to get on the board in the 4^th, but GWU answered in the bottom half of the inning to keep the margin at five, 6-1.

-The Eagles' best inning of the night came with a five-spot in the 5^th to tie up the ballgame. A walk issued to Brandon Fite juiced the bases with Jake Sullivan on second and Scout McFalls on third and leading hitter Mitch Spires at the plate. With a 3-2 full count, GWU pitcher Isaac Campbell would walk Spires and send home a run for the Eagles to spark the comeback. Another full count walk to Grant English would add another for Winthrop and send GWU to the bullpen. New pitcher Wil Sellers would lead off with a walk as well to Dillon Morton.

-Tyler Halstead would not need a walk to plate runs, knocking a two-RBI single up the middle.

-The tie would not hold through the 5^th as the Runnin' Bulldogs would pull back ahead with an RBI single in the bottom half of the inning for a 7-6 lead.

-Trailing 9-6, Winthrop would get the tying run to the plate in the top of the 9^th, but was unable to capitalize and the game would end on a double play.

NOTABLES
-Senior Mitch Spires was 2-for-4 at the plate with one RBI, one double and one run scored.
-Junior Jake Sullivan extended his streak of games to reaching base to 13.
-Winthrop fell to 5-13 on the season when failing to record 10 or more hits.

UP NEXT
The Eagles continue with game two at Gardner-Webb on Saturday at 6 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for a 2 p.m. start, but has been pushed back due to forecasted inclement weather.