Box Score (PDF)

Rock Hill, S.C. – TJ Olesczuk went 5-for-5 with four RBIs and Winthrop pounded out 20 hits en route to a 13-5 victory over USC Upstate Tuesday afternoon from The Winthrop Ballpark.

USC Upstate (4-5) pushed across a run in the top of the second on an RBI single from designated hitter Brian Thompson to take an early 1-0 lead. First baseman Zach Krider led off the inning with a single up the middle and moved to second three batters later on a single by Daniel Seeba. Krider came around to score when Thompson dropped a single into right field for his first RBI of the season.

Winthrop (5-3) answered with four runs in the bottom of the second and opened up a 4-1 advantage. John Menken drew a leadoff walk and took second on a failed pickoff attempt. Stephen Wallace followed with a single to left to drive in Menken with the Eagles' first run. Clif Bryant walked to put runners on first and second before Kyle Edwards moved both Wallace and Bryant up one base with a sacrifice bunt. After a walk to Brad Kaczka, Chad Smith laced a single through the left side to drive in two. TJ Olesczuk added an RBI double later in the inning to account for the final run.

The Eagles tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on a wild pitch and an RBI single from Olesczuk. Winthrop used a pair of extra-base hits in the bottom of the sixth inning to pad its lead to 9-1. Olesczuk picked up his fourth hit of the afternoon with an RBI triple to right field, while Zac Goodno connected for his first home run of the season to bring home two runs.

Upstate struck for two runs in the top of the seventh inning to pull within 9-3 of Winthrop. Shortstop Daniel Fickas led off with a single through the right side and moved to second on a wild pitch. Seeba walked to put runners on first and second, and Justin Allen singled to center two batters later to load the bases. Tyler Lesch delivered the big blow when his single to deep right plated Fickas and Seeba.

Winthrop picked up three more runs in the seventh inning and one in the ninth on its way to its highest scoring output thus far this season.

Erik Samples collected his team-leading 11th RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to drive in Allen. Sam Kysor tallied his first career RBI in a Spartan uniform when he plated Drew Fisher with a single up the middle.

Eagle starter Zach Sightler allowed one run on three hits and struck out four in five innings of work to pick up his first win of the season. Sightler gave way to a Winthrop bullpen that limited Upstate to four runs over the final four innings to preserve the win.  

Upstate starter Eric Birklund (0-1) took the loss after allowing four runs on four hits in 1.1 innings of work.

USC Upstate returns to the diamond Friday at 4 p.m. when the Spartans host Bryant to begin a three-game series from Harley Park.

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