ROCK HILL, SC - Winthrop baseball defeated Charleston Southern 9-1 on Friday night at the Winthrop Ballpark to improve to 8-9 overall on the season and 1-0 in Big South play. Starting pitcher Zach Peek was undoubtedly the star of the show for the Eagles, tossing seven dominant shutout innings. Charleston Southern mustered only three hits for the ballgame, and fell to 6-13 on the season and 0-1 in Big South play. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

- Junior Zach Peek was nothing short of spectacular on Friday night. The right-hander tossed seven shutout innings and allowed only one hit, a single in the sixth inning to CSU leadoff man Kyle Horton. Peek mixed all his pitches and attacked hitters for the length of his outing, striking out nine while walking one batter and hitting a man. Peek was the winning pitcher for the Eagles on Wednesday, moving his overall record to 2-1 on the season in what was surely his best start of the season. 

- Offensively, the Eagles put across five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to put the game away in conjunction with Peek's start. Tyler Baker got the scoring in the fifth going with an RBI groundout to second base, scoring Dillon Morton from third base. The next man up Scout McFalls dropped down a safety squeeze that resulted in a defensive miscommunication for CSU and allowed Brandon Fite to beat the throw home from the pitcher. Two batters later, Spencer Yankle dropped a single into left center field that drove in Scout McFalls from second base. The final two runs of the inning came in when Matthew Mulkey shot a single through the right side to bring around to score Hunter Lipscomb and Spencer Yankle, extending the Winthrop lead to 6-0. 

- Defensively, the Eagles saw what may have been their play of the year in the top of the seventh inning. CSU first baseman Sam Trent-Beacom popped a ball into short center field between shortstop Tyler Baker and center fielder Scout McFalls, and it appeared that neither would be able to make the catch. Baker, with his back to the infield, lost his footing and caught the ball with his bare hand as he fell to the ground. The defensive effort roused an applause out of Zach Peek, who was working his way through his final three outs of the evening. 

NOTABLES

- Hunter Lipscomb and Scout McFalls have emerged as two hot bats for the Eagles as of late. Lipscomb followed his Wednesday performance which included a home run with a 3-4 game on Friday night, driving in two runs and scoring one of his own. McFalls scored two runs on Friday to give him four in his last two ballgames, and also went 3-4 at the plate with two men driven in. 

- Jake Sullivan and Brandon Fite each had multi-hit games with 2-5 performances on Friday, each hitting a double in the series opener. 

UP NEXT: The Eagles and Buccaneers will turn to game two of the series Saturday at the Winthrop Ballpark, which is scheduled for a 3 p.m. first pitch.