CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College baseball team used timely hitting and dominating pitching to grab a 3-1 Big South Conference win over Winthrop on Saturday afternoon at the PC Baseball Complex.
PC improves to 12-22-1 on the year and 5-9 in the Big South Conference. Winthrop falls to 17-21 and 8-6 in League action. The Blue Hose will look for the series sweep on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Blue Hose made the most of their five hits, scoring three runs in the back half of the game. PC also committed zero errors and received a sterling performance from Chandler Knox (Columbia, S.C.), who allowed only one run and six hits over seven innings of work to improve to 5-4. Ethan Wortkoetter (Greer, S.C.) threw two perfect innings of relief to earn his third save of the season.
Cam McRae (Darlington, S.C.) went 3-for-3 at the plate to lead PC while Jay Lizanich (Greer, S.C.) tallied the game's only RBI.
Zach Sightler took the loss for Winthrop to move to 2-3. The Eagle tossed seven innings of five-hit, three run (two earned) ball. Babe Thomas led Winthrop at the plate with two hits.
A nifty piece of defense helped PC keep Winthrop scoreless in the bottom of the second when senior Brandon Paul (Augusta, Ga.) gunned down a runner at home plate with a laser from right field for a crucial out.
After four innings of scoreless play, Paul blooped a single to centerfield to lead off the bottom of the fifth. McRae then laced a double down the left field line to put Paul at third. A shallow pop fly held Paul and brought up Lizanich, who hit a fly ball to left center deep enough to plate Paul and give PC a 1-0 lead.
PC's lead did not last long, however, as Winthrop tied the game on a Babe Thomas RBI single down the right field line in the top of the sixth.
The Blue Hose took the run back in the bottom of the frame. Glen Casaceli (Jupiter, Fla.) poked a single through the middle and advanced to third on a Billy Motroni (Goose Creek, S.C.) sacrifice bunt and a groundout. The PC third baseman then scored on a passed ball that went through the legs of catcher Babe Thomas as PC took back the lead, 2-1.
PC capitalized on another opportunity in the bottom of the seventh. McRae singled to lead off the inning and moved to second on a groundout. Another sacrifice bunt from Lizanich sent McRae to third and the junior came home on a wild pitch, extending PC's lead to 3-1.
From there, Wortkoetter and the PC defense did the rest en route to the victory.
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Winthrop............ 000 001 000 - 1 6 1 (17-21, 8-6 BSC)
Presbyterian College 000 011 10X - 3 5 0 (12-22-1, 5-9 BSC)
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Pitchers: Winthrop - SIGHTLER, Zach; DRIVER, Jason(8) and THOMAS, Babe. Presbyterian College -
KNOX, Chandler; WORTKOETTER, Ethan(8) and LONG, Derek.
Win-KNOX, Chandler(5-4) Save-WORTKOETTER, Ethan(3) Loss-SIGHTLER, Zach(2-3) T-1:58 A-256
Weather: Mid-70s, clear and bright
SIGHTLER, Z. faced 1 batter in the 8th.
