ROCK HILL, SC - Winthrop will head up to Asheville, NC this weekend to do battle with the UNC Asheville Bulldogs in a three game Big South series at the Greenwood Baseball Field. Friday's and Saturday's games will be streamed live on ESPN+. The Eagles enter the weekend set with an 18-14 overall record and 8-4 mark in Big South play, tied with Radford for second place in the conference, two games behind first-place Campbell. UNC Asheville brings an 11-20 mark on the year into the series but the Bulldogs are seeing their season turnaround for the better, as they are 6-6 in Big South play after a 5-13 start to the season. UNC Asheville currently sits tied for fourth place in the Big South with Gardner-Webb. 

The Eagles are come off a series win over High Point last weekend, winning two out of three at the Winthrop Ballpark. Tuesday night, Winthrop picked up their foruth win in their last five games by beating Davidson 9-3 at the Winthrop Ballpark. The Eagles scored nine unanswered runs from the fourth inning onward and used three pitchers to evenly spread the workload. Grant English led the way offensively for Winthrop, going 3-4 at the plate with an RBI and three runs scored. 

UNC Asheville suffered a setback in Big South play last weekend, getting swept in three games by Presbyterian in Clinton, SC by scores of 4-2, 6-2, and 7-2. The Bulldogs also played a midweek contest at home against Appalachian State Wednesday night, which they lost by an 8-2 score. 

  

Winthrop (18-14, 8-4) at UNC Asheville (11-20, 6-6) – Asheville, NC
Date	Friday, April 12	Saturday, April 13	Sunday, March 14
First Pitch	6:00 p.m. ET	3:00 p.m. ET	1:00 p.m. ET
Watch Live	ESPN+	ESPN+
Live Stats	Click Here	Click Here	Click Here
Probable Pitching  Matchup	RHP Zach Peek (4-1, 3.70 ERA) vs. TBD	RHP Nate Pawelczyk (6-2, 2.37 ERA) vs. TBD	LHP Thad Harris (1-4, 5.40 ERA) vs. TBD

* Bouyed By Bats: Winthrop continues to rank at or near the top of the Big South in the majority of offensive categories. The Eagles lead the Big South Conference in team batting average (.289), overall hits (321), total bases (473) and stolen bases (57). They rank second in the conference in slugging percentage (.425), on base percentage (.370), and home runs (28). The Eagles have struck out only 224 times on the season, the second fewest in the Big South. 

* Colten for Closer?: Junior RHP Colten Rendon has found his niche in the back end of the Eagles' bullpen. Rendon has not allowed an earned run in the month of April, tossing three consecutive scoreless outings and two straight hitless outings. Rendon's last earned run came at Radford on March 31. Ten of Rendon's fifteen outings in 2019 have been scoreless. 

* Killer P's: Right handed starters Zach Peek and Nate Pawelczyk have been dominant throughout 2019 and their starts against High Point were no differend. Friday night saw Peek pitch into the ninth inning, tossing 8.1 innings of two-run ball while recording eight strikeouts, and Saturday saw Pawelczyk log 8.0 innings of five-hit, one hit-ball while striking out six. Peek picked up his fourth win of the season (4-2) to tie him for second most in the Big South, and Pawelczyk picked up his sixth (6-2) which is two clear of any other pitcher in the league. 

* Sizzling Scout: Winthrop CF Scout McFalls has been a brutally tough out as of late at the top of the lineup. McFalls has reached base safely 19 total times in the team's last five games, going 8-14 at the plate in that span with six runs scored, five RBI and eight walks. McFalls has raised his season batting average to .326(ninth-best in the Big South) and his on base percentage to .457, second-best in the league behind his teammate Hunter Lipscomb (.471)


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