Clemson, S.C. – Playing on the road for the first time this year, Winthrop fell at Clemson by a final score of 20-7 in seven innings Tuesday afternoon.
 
KEY CONTRIBUTORS

• Dusty Vela (2-3, 2 R, RBI)
• Josh Skowronski (1-3, R, 2 RBI, HR)
• Koby Kropf (2-3, R, RBI, 2B, HR)

W: Chayce Kieck (1-0)
L: Lance Wade (0-1)
S: N/A

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Eagles took a 2-0 lead going to the bottom of the first on Ethan Wilson's RBI groundout and Koby Kropf's solo bomb on the very next play
• Clemson responded with Collin Priest drawing a walk and getting a run to come in and score with the bases loaded with one out and then a grand slam to center field by Jacob Jarrell immediately thereafter
• The Tigers extended their lead to four in the next inning on Tryston McCladdie's RBI groundout, driving in Jarren Purify
• Jaylen Hernandez doubled down the right field line with one out to score Dusty Vela in the top of the third to cut the deficit to three
• Clemson scored four more runs in their half of the frame to go up by seven
• Winthrop mounted a comeback in the fourth with four runs, starting with their second two-run homer of the contest, this one by Josh Skowronski to center field with no one out
• Two plays later, Vela tripled to right field to drive in Nate Chronis and cutting the lead to 10-6
• Gabe Natividad flew out to center field, getting Vela home and making it a three-run game
• But the Tigers exploded again in the bottom of the inning, scoring seven consecutive runs to go up 17-7
• Clemson then scored two more runs in the fifth and tacked on a home run by Tristan Bissetta in the sixth to go up by 13
• The game ended in the seventh innings

TEAM TIDBITS

• Winthrop moves to 1,385-1,004-7 all-time as a program

ON DECK
Winthrop returns home for a three-game series with Wagner starting on Friday, Feb. 28 at 3:00 p.m. The Sunday game will be televised on ESPN+.