ROCK HILL, S.C. - Winthrop baseball (22-25, 13-8 Big South Conference) concludes an eight-game road stretch at league-leading Campbell (27-20, 17-4 Big South Conference) in a three-game series Friday through Sunday. Winthrop is currently fourth in the Big South standings.
         

Winthrop (22-25, 13-8) at Campbell (27-20, 17-4) – Jim Perry Stadium
Date	Friday, May 11	Saturday, May 12	Sunday, May 13
First Pitch	6 p.m. ET	3 p.m. ET	2 p.m. ET
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PROBABLE ROTATION
Winthrop:
Friday Game 1 – RHP Nate Pawelczyk (6-4, 3.88 ERA)
Saturday Game 2 – RHP Zach Peek (4-4, 3.73 ERA)
Sunday Game 3 – RHP Daniel Willcutt (3-5, 3.28 ERA)

Campbell:
Friday Game 1: RHP Allan Winans (5-4, 2.66 ERA)
Saturday Game 2: RHP Michael Horrell (6-2, 3.12 ERA)
Sunday Game 3: RHP Wes Noble (5-5, 5.59 ERA)

LAST MEETING/A LOOK AT THE CAMELS
Winthrop won the 2017 series against Campbell, 2-1, winning the series opener 7-5 and the rubber game 3-2 while the Camels took game two 11-5. Campbell is currently in first place in the Big South by a narrow margin, as just four games separate the Camels from Winthrop in fourth place.  
 
TEAM SNAPSHOT
-Winthrop is hitting .263 (417-for-1587) as a team with a .341 on base percentage. The Eagles have recorded 56 errors as a squad, retaining a .968 fielding percentage overall.

-Winthrop opened conference play on a 6-0 streak and suffered its first setback on the road at High Point. 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. Against Gardner-Webb, the Eagles couldn't hang on to a 6-3 lead when a rain-halted game two resumed the next day, falling 7-6, but bounced back with 12 hits in a 10-5 victory in game three. In a weather-altered series with Radford, the Eagles took the opener 6-3 but fell in both games of a doubleheader on Saturday. Winthrop took a three-game sweep against Asheville behind phenomenal pitching, especially from its three starters who each went a minimum of 8.0 innings. The Eagles suffered two walk-off home run losses at Charleston Southern to lose the series 2-1 after coming from behind to win the series opener 5-4.

-Winthrop is 14-5 when recording double-digit hits and 9-19 when failing to record 10 or more hits.

-The Winthrop pitching staff is second in the Big South in conference games with an ERA of 3.78. Offensively, the team is fourth in the conference in league games with a .280 batting average.

-The Eagles have struggled on the road this season, with a 6-18 record away from the friendly confines of The Winthrop Ballpark, compared to a 16-7 home record.

-The Eagles don't let opponents back in – Winthrop is 20-2 when leading after six innings.
 
PLAYER HIGHLIGHTS
-Senior Mitch Spires went 8-for-17 over the past week raising his batting average to .344, the team-high and fifth-best in the Big South. In only conference games, Spires is hitting a league-high .424 and is tied for first in the Big South with 36 hits. His 65 hits overall on the year ranks third in the conference. Spires also leads the Eagles in runs scored (37), on-base percentage (.403), stolen bases (10), multiple hit games (19), triples (3), and home runs (7). Spires has reached base in 19-straight games, the longest streak on the squad, and also currently owns a team-high 11-game hitting streak.

-Senior Tyler Halstead raised his batting average 24 points from last week to .296, third on the team. Halstead posted six hits and four RBI in the Charleston Southern series.

-Junior RHP Nate Pawelczyk is allowing an opposing batting average of just .226, third in the Big South Conference. Pawelczyk is third in the league in innings pitched (72.0) and fifth in strikeouts (67). Of the 60 hits the Big South Preseason Pitcher of the Year has given up so far this season, only 10 have been doubles, none have been triples and just four have been a home run.

-Sophomore RHP Zach Peek leads the team and is second in the Big South Conference in strikeouts with 81 on the season, and was the first pitcher in the league to surpass the 50 mark. Of the 81 Ks, 25 are of the looking variety, good for third in the conference. With nine strikeouts at ETSU, he fell just one short of having three-straight games with double-digit strikeouts (10 vs. Maryland Eastern Shore, 12 vs. Kent State.) Peek was named Big South Starting Pitcher of the Week on Mar. 26 after hurling a complete game shutout, the first of his career, against Longwood, and overall has earned the weekly honor three times this season. Peek is second in the league in innings pitched (72.1) and fourth in opposing batting average (.228). His ERA (3.73) ranks eighth in the league.

-Senior RHP Daniel Willcutt is set to make his third weekend start after posting two complete games in his first two Sunday outings. His 3.28 ERA leads the Eagles and is third in the 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 (18), with 15 appearances in relief, finishing 10 games, a team-high.

-The Eagles have been without impactful junior outfielder Matthew Mulkey since game one against Longwood on Fri., Mar. 23 due to injury. Mulkey continues to lead the Eagles in slugging percentage (.595) and remains second in on-base percentage (.389), batting average (.304) and home runs (5) and is still tied for third on the squad in RBI (22). Junior infielder Grant English (fifth in batting average, .277) and sophomore catcher Alex Raines (fourth in batting average, .287) are also out due to injury.
 
UP NEXT
After the Campbell series the Eagles return home for their final four regular season games, hosting a midweek matchup against Charlotte, then the final Big South series of the season against Liberty, Thurs.-Sat., May 17-19.