ROCK HILL, SC - Winthrop swept Saturday's doubleheader over Canisius with 3-2 and 10-2 victories at the Winthrop Ballpark. The Eagles have now won six straight games to open the season (6-0 overall) and with the Saturday losses, Canisius drops to 1-7 on the season. 

GAME ONE

Winthrop broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning when Spencer Yankle came to the plate with runners on second and third with one out. Yankle lined a double that just snuck inside the right field foul line, scoring Andrew Jenner from third and Scout McFalls from second to give Winthrop a 2-0 lead. 

After Canisius plated a run in the top of half in the sixth inning, the Eagles answered back with one of their own in the bottom half. Dillon Morton led off the inning with a single to center field, and was advanced to second on a groundout. Two batters later, Tyler Baker dropped a single down the left field line, scoring Morton from second base to give Winthrop a 3-1 lead. 

After Canisius plated one in the top of the eighth to make it a 3-2 ballgame, Winthrop turned to closer Colten Rendon for a four out save. The senior right-hander converted the opportunity and closed the game out, allowing two hits and striking out two in 1.1 innings of work. 

Daniel Blair got the start and the win for the Eagles in game one of the doubleheader. The redshirt sophomore right-hander tossed 5.1 innings of one run, three hit ball, striking out eight and walking only one. The victory was the first of Blair's Winthrop career, putting him at 1-0 on the season. The bridge from Blair to Rendon was senior left-hander Jason Crumley, who logged 2.1 innings of one hit, one run ball, striking out four Canisius hitters and walking two. 

GAME TWO

Winthrop scored eight of its ten game two runs in the first two innings, and the Eagles got right to work with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. Leadoff hitter Luke Hannum was hit by the first pitch he saw, and two batters later Scout McFalls singled to right field to send Jenner to third base with McFalls taking second on the play on a mishandled throw from the outfield. The next batter was Cale Gibson, who shot a single into right field to score Jenner and McFalls to give the Eagles an early 2-0 lead. 

Saturday's game two was ultimately decided in the bottom of the second inning, when Winthrop exploded for six runs to put the game firmly in hand. Tyler Baker and Ryan Watson were walked and hit by a pitch to start the inning with runners on first and second. Luke Hannum then grounded a ball to first base that was bobbled, and while Hannum was forced out on the play, Baker never stopped running and scored from second base on the play to make it 3-0 Eagles. Next up was Andrew Jenner, who drove in Watson from second for Winthrop's fourth run on a single to right field. Still with one out in the inning, Jenner stole second base and took third on the play as the throw down was mishandled by the Canisius shortstop. Jenner was driven in a few pitches later by Scout McFalls, whose RBI double to right field made it 5-0 Eagles. Immediately following a pitching change, McFalls stole third base and was then brought home by an RBI double to left field by Spencer Yankle, giving Winthrop a 6-0 lead. Yankle wouldn't be on second base for long, as the next batter Cale Gibson ripped a line drive double to center field for an RBI as Yankle crossed the plate for Winthrop's fifth run of the inning. Gibson would advance to third base on a wild pitch, and was brought home on a sacrifice fly to right field for an 8-0 Winthrop lead. 

After Canisius got a run back in the top of the fourth inning to make it 8-1 Winthrop, the Eagles got the run back in a big way. Third baseman Dillon Morton teed off for his first home run of the season, a long solo shot to right field to make it an eight run lead again at 9-1. 

Winthrop's final run came in the bottom of the sixth inning, when pinch hitter Matt Levenson drove in Andrew Jenner with an RBI single to left field. 

On the mound, the Eagles split up game two's seven innings among three arms. It started with junior right-hander Macklin Ohs, who logged four innings of two hit, one run ball on Saturday, striking out three and walking one. Having logged four innings in a scheduled seven inning contest, Ohs was game two's winning pitcher, giving him his first victory of 2020 at 1-0. 

Freshman right-hander Trevor Cumberland made his Winthrop debut in game two and logged two shutout relief innings, allowing one hit while striking out one and walking one in his six outs of work. Fellow freshman Garrett Gainey then came on for the final three outs in the seventh inning, and the southpaw allowed one run on two hits, striking out one. 

UP NEXT: Winthrop goes for the four game series sweep on Sunday afternoon, as first pitch from the Winthrop Ballpark is set for 12 noon. 

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