Men's Basketball VMIKeydets.com

Slowey, Carte Lead #2 Winthrop Past #5 VMI 11-1 in Big South Championship; Keydets Return to Action Thursday Morning at 11 a.m. Against Radford

CONWAY, S.C. ? Winthrop hurler Kevin Slowey scattered six hits and allowed one run in seven innings, and rightfielder Daniel Carte had a double and home run as the No. 2 seeded Eagles defeated No. 5 seed VMI, 11-1 in the second game of the 2005 Bojangles' Big South Baseball Championship at Watson Stadium/Vrooman Field on the campus of Coastal Carolina University. Winthrop (40-19) will face the winner of the No. 3 Birmingham-Southern-No. 4 Liberty game Thursday evening at 7:00pm ET, while VMI (27-27) will meet No. 6 Radford at 11:00am ET in the first elimination game.

VMI manufactured a run against Slowey in the second inning with a hit, hit batter, sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly to take an early 1-0 lead. However, the Eagles countered with four runs in the bottom half of the second on four singles, sending seven batters to the plate. In the third frame, Winthrop chased VMI starter Jimmy Thoms after the righthander allowed six hits and five runs without retiring a batter. Carte and Jacob Dempsey hit back-to-back homers, and the Eagles notched four extra base hits in the inning (two homers, two doubles). Keydet lefty Trey Barham relieved Thoms and set down the Eagles, tossing five innings with two runs allowed on seven hits and three strikeouts.

Winthrop added two runs in the fifth inning to put the game out of reach. Slowey, who entered the game with a 10-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, struck out one and walked one in winning his 13th game of the season and becoming Winthrop's all-time win leader with 28. He also lowered his League-leading season earned run average to 2.26.

Carte, Chris Carrara and Alan Robbins each totaled three hits in Winthrop's 18-hit attack, while Tommy Lentz and Alan Robbins scored three times for the Eagles. VMI was led by Jacoby Fields' 3-3 effort against Slowey, while First-team All-Conference third baseman Kelly Sweppenhiser tallied two hits. The game was VMI's first Big South Baseball Tournament appearance.

Quotes
Winthrop Head Coach Joe Hudak
“That was a great start. I thought we swung the bats very well. Kevin (Slowey) threw well, he didn't have his best stuff. He's only going on a couple days rest. We're not going to throw him again this tournament. ... It was a great complete game.”

VMI Head Coach Marlin Ikenberry
“Jimmy Thoms got off to a rough start, it's the most hits he's given up in the last four-to-five outings, and the most runs that he's given up this year. Trey Barham did exactly what we wanted him to do. He came in and threw five strong innings, that's what you want in tournament play, and Will Paulette did a great job in the ninth. ... Kevin Slowey is the best pitcher in the league. We got an early run off him, but they came back on us ... Now we're to the point where every game is our last game, and we will be prepared for Radford tomorrow.”
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