Rock Hill, S.C. – Coming off a loss at Wofford Wednesday night, Winthrop continues Big South play with a three-game series at USC Upstate this weekend.
A LOOK AT USC UPSTATE
- The two schools will meet for the 21st-23rd time with USC Upstate leading the series, 13-7
- The Eagles and the Spartans met for the first time on Feb. 25, 2014 in Rock Hill, with Winthrop winning 13-5
- Winthrop has won only two three-game series against the Spartans-2019 in Spartanburg (two of three) and 2021 in Rock Hill (two of three)
- Since 2023, USC Upstate has won seven of the last 8 meetings, including five straight
- Last season in 2024, the Spartans won all three contests from the Eagles in Rock Hill
- USC Upstate won the last meeting, 4-0 in Rock Hill on Apr. 7, 2024
- Winthrop's last win in the series was on Apr. 2, 2023, a 5-3 result in Spartanburg
- Closing out a six-game road swing with a trip to the state capital, USC Upstate dropped its midweek contest at Founders Park Tuesday evening, falling 13-3 to South Carolina in seven innings
- After earning a spot in the Big South Championship Game for the second straight season last May, Upstate, a second-place prediction in the league's annual preseason poll ushers head coach Kane Sweeney's first season at the helm. A relatively new addition to the preseason poll—preseason all-conference selections added ahead of the 2024 season—the Spartans see junior right-handed pitcher Braden Consaul, sophomore right-hander Cooper Ellingworth, and sophomore infielder Vance Sheahan honored with Preseason All-Conference nods
- Last season the Spartans went 36-24 and 16-8 in the Big South and fell to High Point in the conference title game
LAST TIME OUT
- Winthrop fell at Wofford Wednesday afternoon, 12-3
A LOOK BACK AT 2024
- The Eagles finished the 2024 season with a 19-29-1 (8-15 Big South) record
- Jaylen Hernandez and Owen Sarna were both named to the Big South All-Freshman Team
- The Sacramento Athletics in the 13th round selected Riley Huge in the MLB Draft
- Overall, Huge marks the 37th Eagle in history to be selected in the MLB Draft
- This was the second straight year that a Winthrop baseball player was drafted
- Winthrop also earned the Team Academic Excellence Award from the ABCA for the fifth consecutive year
- Winthrop finished last season having recorded the most strikeouts in nine inning games in a single season in program history (9.60 over 413.1 IP)
- Winthrop also finished last season sixth in a single season in program history with 440 strikeouts
- Against Davidson on Apr. 16, 2024, Winthrop set a new team single-game record for most times hit by pitch with seven
- In a minimum of 500 chances, Nate Chronis is currently tied for fourth in school history with a .989 fielding percentage
- He also finished last season tied for fifth in school history in most times hit by pitch in a single season with 12
- Chronis led the team in putouts last season with 275 and total chances with 306
- He was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team. Chronis started in 33 of 44 games played, batting in a season-high two runs vs. Radford on May 5
- Joey Hylinski led the team in lowest ERA last season with 2.35
WINTHROP AT A GLANCE IN 2025
- Winthrop enters 2025 predicted to finish sixth in the Big South Conference
- In his first season at the helm of the program is Mike McGuire
- McGuire is just the fourth head coach in program history
- His career record is 495-371-1 in 16 years as a head coach
- McGuire returns to the Winthrop baseball program after serving as head coach at USC Upstate the last five seasons. This marks McGuire's third stint with the Eagle program as he spent 12 seasons as an assistant coach from 1997-2002 and again in 2006-11
- The Eagles also welcome back 13 players, 11 of them starters and 27 newcomers, all either freshman or transfers
- The program has a record of 1,399-1,017-7
- Winthrop is 884-407-4 all-time at home
- Winthrop is 488-370 all-time in conference play, the winningest record in conference history
- Winthrop is 28-17 all-time in season openers
- Winthrop leads the nation in hit by pitches with 97
- Winthrop is 23rd in the nation in doubles with 71
- Winthrop is 15th in the nation in runs scored with 292
- Hernandez and Gabe Natividad are both 6th in the nation in hit by pitch with 17
- Following Friday's 10-3 win over UNC Asheville, Winthrop had been hit by pitch up to that point in the season with 92
- This set a new school single-season team school record
- Last year's team was hit by pitch 86 times
- Koby Kropf and Owen Sarna were voted to the Big South Conference Preseason All-Conference Team
- Kropf was selected as part of D1Baseball's Top 100 Outfielders entering the 2025 season, slotting Kropf as the 26-best in the country
- Kropf started all 60 games for conference rival USC Upstate in 2024, and became just the third player in Big South history with 20 doubles (21) and 20 home runs (20) in a season. He hit .352 overall with 20 homers, 67 runs batted in, a .704 slugging clip, 81 hits and 56 runs scored. Kropf also drew 29 walks and five hit-by-pitch and finished with a .431 on-base percentage. Kropf recorded a career-high five hits versus Presbyterian on April 27, collected a career-high five RBI versus Queens on April 16, and recorded 25 multi-hit and 19 multi-RBI games a season ago
- In Big South contests, Kropf batted .363 with eight home runs, 28 RBI, a .714 slugging average and .463 on-base clip
- Last season at USC Upstate, he earned Second-Team All-Big South honors and was a back-to-back Player of the Week honoree (April 22 and April 29)
- Kropf was named the 2025 Big South Preseason Baseball Player of the Year Kropf is the first Winthrop baseball player to earn Preseason Player of the Year honors since 2007 and the third time overall
- Sarna is coming off a freshman campaign in which he was named to the 2024 Big South Conference All-Freshman Team. He finished 9th in the Big South in overall pitching with an ERA of 4.74. His most notable performances last season were pitching a season-high 6.0 innings vs. Longwood on Mar. 17 and a season-high six strikeouts vs. Maine on Mar. 3
- Sarna ended 2024 having pitched 49.1 innings with a record of 4-4 in 13 games played. He was 2nd on the team in ERA and wins with four. He started nine games, striking out 38 batters, which was good for 4th on the team
- Harrison Wilson was named to the initial Watch List for the 20th Annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I Baseball
- Wilson is one of the key relievers to return for the Eagles in 2024. Wilson started in nearly all the 49 games that the Eagles played last season. He started in 45 of 47 games he played in and pitched three games in relief, the only Winthrop offensive player on the season to do so. Wilson pitched a season-high 4.0 innings with 10 strikeouts and one walk at Queens (2/27) and offensively had a season-high five RBI's vs. USC Upstate (4/6). Wilson will also play infield as well
- Wilson was also recognized by D1 Baseball as the #3 top prospect in the Big South Conference
- He tied for the team lead in walks last season with 44
- Hernandez had a terrific freshman season with the Eagles in 2024. He finished tied for 7th in the Big South in doubles with a team-leading 15 doubles; starting in all 45 games he played in, finishing the season with 157 at-bats. He was also tied for the team lead in games started and home runs with seven and led the team in RBI's with 30 and walks with 19. He was named the Big South Freshman of the Week on May 6, which was the first weekly award of his career. A versatile player, Hernandez will DH, play first base and play in the outfield in 2025
2025 SEASON HONORS
- Koby Kropf – Redshirt senior – Outfielder
- 2025 Big South Preseason Player of the Year/Preseason All-Conference Team
- Owen Sarna – Sophomore – Pitcher
- 2025 Big South Preseason All-Conference Team
- Koby Kropf – Redshirt senior – Outfielder
- 2025 D1Baseball's Top 100 Outfielders
- Koby Kropf – Redshirt senior – Outfielder
- 2025 DIBaseball's Big South Preseason Player of the Year
- Harrison Wilson – Junior – Infielder/pitcher
- 2025 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award Initial Watch List And The #3 Pro Prospect By The Big South Conference
- Owen Sarna-Big South Co-Starting Pitcher of the Week
- Sarna allowed one hit and no runs over 5.2 innings to earn the win for Winthrop against Merrimack
- He walked one and struck out nine, a new career-high
- The right-handed sophomore struck out the side in the top of the first inning and the first four batters of the game overall
- He finished with at least one strikeout in every inning, including fanning the final batter he faced in the sixth
- The only hit Sarna allowed was a single to center in the top of the fifth
- Colin Crowley-Big South Freshman of the Week
- Crowley batted .429 (6-14) with seven runs, four RBI and four doubles in Winthrop's three-game sweep of Merrimack
- He posted at least one double and one RBI in all three games and walked once
- The freshman infielder went 3-for-5 with three runs, a double and one RBI in his collegiate debut on Friday
- He added another double and an RBI in the second game of Friday's doubleheader and then capped off the weekend with two doubles, three runs, and two RBI in the final game of the series on Sunday
- Harrison Wilson-Big South Co-Starting Pitcher of the Week
- Wilson earned the win for Winthrop with a career-long 7.0 innings against UNC Asheville
- The junior right-hander allowed just three hits and one run while striking out a season-high nine batters
- He walked only two, didn't allow an extra-base hit, and surrendered his lone run on a fielder's choice groundout in the fourth
- Wilson recorded strikeouts in six of his seven innings and got stronger as the game went on, fanning two batters in each of his final three frames
WATCH THE EAGLES ON ESPN+
Of the 33 home games this season, 22 of them will air live on ESPN+. You can also catch most of the road games in Big South Conference play on ESPN+. To watch Big South games on ESPN+ you must have a subscription to ESPN+. For more information on how to subscribe,
click here.
WHERE TO SHOP
Find all your needs for Winthrop gear–
ShopWinthropeagles.com |
ShopWinthropGear.com |
BSNTeamSports.com
LOOKING AHEAD
Winthrop returns home to face Davidson USC Upstate on Tuesday, Apr. 15 at 6:00 p.m.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
To keep up with the latest news on the Winthrop baseball program follow the Eagles on Twitter (@WinthropBSB), Instagram (@winthropbaseball) and Facebook (winthropbaseball).
