ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Gardner-Webb (16-25, 5-10) baseball team dropped the third and final game of its series with Winthrop (22-20, 8-7) by the final of 7-5 on Saturday afternoon at Founders Field.

Garrett Macias and Matt Ilgenfritz both went deep for the Runnin' Bulldogs, but Gardner-Webb could not overcome an early hole to the Eagles.

After a scoreless first inning for both sides, Winthrop took an early lead after posting four runs in the bottom of the second, all with two outs. The 'Dawgs finally broke through on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth after Macias led off with a solo shot to left.

Gardner-Webb was able to inch closer with another single run in the sixth. Dale Francis Jr. doubled with one out before coming around to score on an RBI double off the bat of Tanner Thomas.

However, the Eagles ballooned their lead to 7-2 with two runs in the bottom half of the sixth followed by one run in the seventh.

Back-to-back hits to start the eighth put runners on the corners for Gardner-Webb before Francis tallied a sacrifice fly RBI. Matt Ilgenfritz matched that with a two-run blast to left. Unfortunately, that was the last of the scoring for either side as Gardner-Webb suffered the crucial sweep.

The 'Dawgs will step out of conference for their next game, traveling to Durham, N.C. to face the Blue Devils of Duke on Tuesday, April 22 at 6 p.m.