ROCK HILL, S.C. - Winthrop baseball (20-22, 12-6 Big South Conference) heads just north of the border to take on Charlotte (24-19, 11-10 C-USA) in a rare midday matchup on Weds., May 2 with a noon first pitch.

      

Winthrop (20-22, 12-6) at Charlotte (24-19, 11-10) – Hayes Stadium, Charlotte
Date	Weds., May 2
First Pitch	12 p.m.
TV	UNCC TV
Live Stats	Charlotte49ers.com (click here)
Live Audio	Winthrop Eagles.com (click here)
Live Stream	ConferenceUSA.com (click here)
Game Notes	Coming soon
Get Tickets	Click here

 






 



PROJECTED STARTERS
Winthrop: RHP Daniel Willcutt (3-3, 3.40 ERA)

Charlotte: RHP Chase Gooding (2-1, 4.65 ERA)

A LOOK AT THE 49ERS
This is the first of two meetings between Winthrop and Charlotte this season as the two squads will face off again on Tues., May 15 at The Winthrop Ballpark. Last season, the Eagles won a 3-2 contest at Charlotte with a ninth inning rally, while the 49ers took an 11-9 victory in Rock Hill. Charlotte is coming off a series win at Rice and also owns wins over Big South opponents High Point and Charleston Southern.

TEAM SNAPSHOT
Winthrop is hitting .263 (367-for-1398) as a team with a .344 on base percentage. The Eagles have recorded 48 errors as a squad, retaining a .968 fielding percentage overall.

The Eagles have struggled away from the friendly confines of The Winthrop Ballpark, posting a 4-15 road record so far this season. Winthrop is 4-8 overall in midweek non-conference games.

Winthrop is 13-4 when recording double-digit hits and 7-18 when failing to record 10 or more hits. In its first six conference games, Winthrop recorded double-digit hits in five of six (and posted nine in the sixth game), winning all six games. In the series at High Point, the Eagles belted just a combined five hits in the first two games, both losses, but bounced back for 11 hits and 11 runs and a victory in game three.

The Eagles don't let opponents back in – Winthrop is 19-1 when leading after six innings.
 
PLAYER HIGHLIGHTS
-Senior Mitch Spires leads Winthrop with a .333 batting average and 56 hits on the year, good for eighth and sixth in the Big South Conference respectively. Spires also leads the Eagles in RBI (28), on-base-percentage (.390), runs scored (30), multiple hit games (17), doubles (12), triples (3), and is tied for a team-high five home runs. Spires has reached base in 14-straight games, the longest streak on the squad.
 
-Senior RHP Daniel Willcutt will make his fifth start of the season after making the first weekend appearance of his career in a 4-3 win over UNC Asheville on Sun., Apr. 21. Willcutt went a complete nine innings, giving up just six hits and striking out three. Willcutt's 3.40 ERA leads the Eagles and is good for fourth-best in the Big South Conference.

-Senior LHP Riley Arnone owns a team-high five saves, tied for fourth in the Big South Conference. Arnone is third on the squad in appearances (16), with 13 appearances in relief, finishing nine games, a team-high.

UP NEXT
Winthrop returns to Big South action on the road at Charleston Southern for a three-game series this weekend, Fri.-Sun., May 4-6.