LYNCHBURG, Va. - Winthrop baseball (24-29, 15-12 Big South Conference) has earned the fourth seed in the 2018 Big South Conference Baseball Championship and will face fifth-seed Gardner-Webb in the first round on Weds., May 23. A weather delay in the first day of competition forced a change to the schedule and the originally scheduled game time on Tuesday evening. The schedule has also been pushed back for the remaining games on Wednesday and pushed the winners bracket game to Thursday. 
 
           

Winthrop (24-29, 15-12) vs. Gardner-Webb (29-25, 14-13) – Liberty (Host)
Date	Weds., May 23	If Win: Thurs., May 24	If Loss: Weds., May 23
First Pitch	9:30 a.m. ET	12:00 p.m. ET	45 mins after conclusion of Game 7 (4:30 p.m. start)
Live Stats	Click here	Click here	Click here
Live Video	ESPN+ (Click here)	Big South Network	ESPN+ (click here)
Get Tickets	Click here		(Elimination Game)

 






 



PROBABLE STARTER
Winthrop:
Game 1 – RHP Nate Pawelczyk (7-5, 3.95 ERA)

Gardner-Webb:
Game 1: RHP Bradley Hallman (5-2, 3.53 ERA)

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
-The Eagles have four tournament championships in program history with the last one coming in 2005. Winthrop has appeared in the championship game nine times overall, most recently in 2014.

TEAM SNAPSHOT
-Winthrop is hitting .254 (450-for-1772) as a team with a .330 on base percentage. The Eagles have recorded 63 errors as a squad, retaining a .967 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 went 1-2 at league-leading Campbell taking a 5-1 win in the second game of the series, breaking a 1-1 tie with a four-run 8^th inning. After opening the final regular season series against Liberty with a 2-0 shutout win, the Flames took the last two games.

-Winthrop is 14-5 when recording double-digit hits and 11-23 when failing to record 10 or more hits.

-The Winthrop pitching staff is third in the Big South in conference games with an ERA of 3.97.

-Winthrop has struggled outside the friendly confines of The Winthrop Ballpark with a7-20 road record.

-The Eagles don't let opponents back in – Winthrop is 21-2 when leading after six innings.
 
PLAYER HIGHLIGHTS
-Senior Mitch Spires leads the Eagles and is eighth in the Big South with a .325 batting average. In only conference games, Spires is sixth hitting. 371 and is tied for third in the Big South with 39 hits. His 68 hits overall on the year ranks fourth in the conference. Spires also leads the Eagles in runs scored (39), on-base percentage (.389), stolen bases (11), multiple hit games (19), triples (4), and home runs (7). Spires' team-high 110 total bases is also best in the conference.

-Senior Tyler Halstead leads Winthrop and the Big South with 15 doubles. Halstead also leads the squad in RBI (32) and multiple-RBI games (8).  Halstead is second on the team in hits and third in batting average and has maintained a .995 fielding percentage playing all 53 games, 49 at first base.

-Junior RHP Nate Pawelczyk is allowing an opposing batting average of .225, third in the Big South Conference. Pawelczyk is third in the league in innings pitched (82.0) and sixth in strikeouts (72). Of only 68 hits the Big South Preseason Pitcher of the Year has given up so far this season, only 16 have been for extra bases (12 doubles, four home runs, no triples).  

-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). 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.
 
FULL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Tuesday, May 22 (Games 1-4) – Big South Network
Game 1:  No. 2 High Point vs. No. 7 Charleston Southern, 9:30am
Game 2:  No. 3 Liberty vs. No. 6 Radford, 45 minutes following Game 1
Game 3:  No. 1 Campbell vs. No. 8 Longwood, 4:30pm
Game 4:  No. 4 Winthrop vs. No. 5 Gardner-Webb, 45 minutes following Game 3
 
Wednesday, May 23 (Games 5-8) – ESPN+
Game 5:  Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 9:30am
Game 6:  Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 45 minutes following Game 5
Game 7:  Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 4:30pm
Game 8:  Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 45 minutes following Game 7
 
Thursday, May 24 (Games 9-10) – Big South Network
Game 9:  Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 5, 3:00pm
Game 10:  Loser Game 8 vs. Winner Game 6, 45 minutes following Game 9
 
Friday, May 25 (Games 11-12 [13-14]) – ESPN3
Game 11:  Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, 10:00am
Game 12:  Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 10, 45 minutes following Game 11
Game 13:  if necessary - Winner Game 11 vs. Loser Game 11, 5:00pm (7 innings)
Game 14: if necessary - Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 12, 45 minutes following Game 13 (7 innings)
 
Saturday, May 26 (Championship Game) - ESPNU
Winner Game 11 (or 13) vs. Winner Game 12 (or 14), 12:00pm