ROCK HILL, SC - Winthrop baseball will begin Big South play this weekend at the Winthrop Ballpark when Charleston Southern comes in for a three game series. The Eagles come in with a 7-9 overall record and are fresh off beating Davidson 7-4 at BB&T Ballpark in Charlotte on Wednesday night. The Buccaneers are 6-12 on the season and were winners on Wednesday as well, defeating the Charleston of Charleston 9-1.
All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+ with
Will Hibbard providing play-by-play and Bob Woodard giving color commentary.
This weekend's series features a T-shirt giveaway at Friday's contest and St. Patrick's Day promotions, including a Lucky Day prize raffle and green beer sold at the concession stands.
Probable Pitching Matchups:
Friday: RHP Tyler Weekley (0-3, 5.48 ERA) vs. TBD
Saturday: LHP Jaret Bennett (1-2, 4.29 ERA) vs. TBD
Sunday: LHP Cody Maw (1-1, 2.77 ERA) vs. TBD
Facts and Figures:
* First Time's a Charm: Two Eagles had career firsts in the Wednesday win over Davidson and both were huge contributers to the team win. Freshman RHP
Jaret Montenery tossed 3.1 innings of one run, two hit ball and earned his first collegiate victory. In the top of the seventh inning, leadoff man
Scout McFalls hit his first career home run, a three-run go ahead shot which proved to be the game winner.
* Hot Hitters to Watch: Senior OF Josh Litchfield is the difference maker for the Buccaneer offense, hitting .347/.400/.373 on the season (26-75) with four stolen bases in five attempts. For the Eagles, a bat to watch for is OF
Scout McFalls. McFalls slashes .250/.357/.361 on the year but has shown a consistent ability to hit the ball hard, and is due to see a hike in his entire slash line in the near future.
* Bullpen Answer: Junior RHP
Colten Rendon has emerged as a steady and reliable option out of an Eagle bullpen that has had question marks in 2019. Rendon tossed 2 scoreless innings on Wednesday, giving him three straight outings and 6.2 straight scoreless innings to lower his season ERA to 2.70. Rendon looks much like the 2017 pitcher that was named a Freshman All-American, and his consistency will be key to the Eagles' 2019 success.
* Offensive Steadiness: Winthrop holds the second highest team batting average in the Big South Conference entering the weekend at .255. Winthrop is tied with UNC Asheville for the most doubles (26) and rank third in the conference in home runs (12) and on base percentage (.340)
*Great Glove Work: Winthrop has emerged as a very solid defensive team through 16 games, as the Eagles rank third in the Big South in fielding percentage (.965) and have committed the second fewest errors among Big South teams (20). The Eagles are coming off a clean defensive performance against Davidson on Wednesday.
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