BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Eric Jones drilled a RBI base knock through the left side of the infield with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Gardner-Webb to a 7-6 walk off win over Winthrop early Sunday afternoon.
 
Gardner-Webb (19-14, 6-5 Big South) earned the key Big South Conference series win over Winthrop (14-18, 7-4 Big South) with its sixth straight win of the season.
 
It was also the 800th career victory for Gardner-Webb head coach Rusty Stroupe.  In his 28 years as a collegiate head coach, Stroupe has compiled an overall record of 800-665-2 and is GWU's all-time leader in wins with a 444-431-2 record in 16 seasons.
 
The contest began at 4:00 pm on Saturday afternoon and was halted just after the first pitch was thrown in the bottom of the ninth due to wet conditions from rain showers that began midway through the contest.  Action resumed at 1:00 pm on Sunday afternoon, just over 17 hours after play stopped.
 
Justin Kunz led off the bottom of the ninth for the 'Dogs, drawing a walk from Winthrop pitcher Riley Arnone.
 
That brought Chris Clary to the plate, who launched his fourth home run of the season into the trees beyond the left field fence to trim GWU's deficit to one run with no outs.
 
Taber Mongero and Ben LaSpaluto drew back-to-back walks to put the tying run in scoring position with no outs, which led Winthrop to go to its bullpen to bring in Daniel Willcutt to face Mason Fox.
 
The Eagles got their first out of the frame as Mongero attempted to steal third base, yet LaSpaluto stole second base on the designed double steal to keep a runner in scoring position for the 'Dogs.
 
Fox then knocked a single to center field to plate LaSpaluto to knot the score at 6-6.
 
Mickey Dugan grounded out to third base to record the second out, but that allowed Fox to move over to second base to reach scoring position.
 
Willcutt then intentionally walked Corey Howard to put runners on first and second for Jones.
 
With a 1-0 count, Jones drilled a base hit just out of the reach of Winthrop third baseman Jake Sullivan, allowing Fox to easily cross home plate safely to give Gardner-Webb the 7-6 walk off victory.
 
The Eagles struck first in the top of the fifth inning.  Grant English led off with a double down the right field line, and with two outs, he scored on a base knock to left field by Scout McFalls.
 
GWU tied the game in the bottom of the sixth inning.  With the bases loaded and one out, LaSpaluto hit a ground ball over to Winthrop third baseman Sullivan, who touched third base to record one out and attempted to get the ball to first base in time for the double play.
 
His throw sailed wide of the outstretched glove of first baseman Tyler Halstead, allowing Kunz to score from third base.  Mongero attempted to score on the throwing error as well, but was tagged out by the catcher McFalls to record the final out of the frame.
 
Winthrop answered in the top of the seventh to reclaim the lead.  Dillon Morton led off the frame with a solo home run that was just inside of the foul pole in left field.
 
A brief moment of heavy rains led to a delay of 17 minutes with one out, and once play resumed, Winthrop scored once more on a RBI groundout by Sullivan to take a 3-1 advantage.
 
The Diamond 'Dogs responded in the bottom half of the seventh to tie the game once again.  With no outs, Dugan reached on a throwing error by Sullivan that allowed Fox to score from second base.
 
Later in the frame, Dugan was able to score on a passed ball with two outs to set the score at 3-3.
 
The Eagles seized the lead for the third time of the contest in the top of the eighth inning. 
 
Brandon Fite drew a walk from GWU reliever Jarrett Thompson to lead off the frame, followed by back-to-back singles by Mitch Spires and Cale Gibston to load the bases.
 
Thompson fanned Morton to record the first out of the inning, but would then walk English with the bases loaded to send one run across the plate, followed by a two-run double to right field by Halstead to give Winthrop a 6-3 lead with one away.
 
Tyler Johnson was brought in to replace Thompson on the mound, who fanned two Winthrop batters to end the inning.
 
GWU threatened in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases two outs for pinch hitter Chandler Redmond, but Arnone struck Redmond out to end the frame.
 
Isaac Campbell came in to work the ninth for the 'Dogs, preventing Winthrop from adding any additional runs just before play was stopped for the evening.
 
Gardner-Webb had 10 base hits for the game, led by Clary (2-for-3, HR, 2 RBI) and Fox (2-for-5, RBI, 2 runs).
 
The Eagles had eight hits, led by Spires (2-for-5, run) and English (2-for-3, 2 2B, RBI, run).
 
Campbell (3-3) was awarded the win for Gardner-Webb, working the ninth inning, allowing no runs on one base hit with one strikeout.  Starter Bradley Hallman lasted seven innings, allowing three runs on four hits with three strikeouts.
 
Willcutt (2-3) took the loss for Winthrop, giving up one run on a pair of base hits in 0.2 innings of work.  Starter Zach Peek went six innings, allowing one unearned run on six base hits while fanning seven batters.