Winthrop takes doubleheader from Bucs in baseball

Brian Sole had a grand slam in game one

CHARLESTON, SC – Winthrop’s Eagles strengthened their hold on second-place in the Big South Conference standings by completing a three-game sweep of Charleston Southern with two wins on Saturday afternoon at Buccaneer Field.

Winthrop (22-14, 10-2) used a four-run ninth inning to take game one, 12-9, and easily rolled to an 11-1 victory in the second game. Charleston Southern, loser’s of six consecutive conference games, falls to 17-23 overall and 4-8 in Big South Conference play.

Right fielder Daniel Carte had a huge day at the plate for the Eagles, who ripped off 24 hits in the sweep. Carte went two-for-four with three RBI in the first game and followed with a four-for-five, four RBI performance in game two. Carte homered in both games. Shortstop Matt Repec tallied five hits and three RBIs in eight at bats during the two games with second baseman Chris Carrara picking up four RBIs in the sweep.

Winthrop came from behind twice in game one, taking an early 4-0 lead only to see the Buccaneers grab a 5-4 lead after a solo homerun from shortstop Billy Dalton and a grand slam from Brian Sole in a five-run fourth.

Winthrop came right back with three runs in the fifth and held an 8-6 lead before CSU posted three runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a 9-8 lead. The Eagles again responded, however, scoring four runs aided by a couple of CSU errors, to win the game, 12-9. CSU committed four errors defensively, allowing six unearned runs.

Reliever Jon Wilson (7-0) earned the victory for the Eagles while Bobby Parnell lost in relief for the Bucs.

It was all Winthrop in game two as the Eagles jumped on Parnell (1-6), the game two starter, for four runs in the second inning. The Eagles added four more runs in the third and put the game away with three runs in the fourth. Mike Honce (3-3) went 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run, to earn the game two victory.

For CSU, Jordan Haar had three hits on the day, including his 11th homerun of the season. Sole ended up with two hits and four RBI and Dalton had three hits in eight trips.

Charleston Southern takes a week off for final exams this week before returning to action on April 28 at Furman.