FIRST PITCH
Score: Queens 13 | Winthrop 12
Records: Queens 3-5 | Winthrop 2-7
Location: Charlotte, N.C. (Richard "Stick" Williams Dream Fields)
 
The Short Story: The Queens University of Charlotte baseball team tied a program record with six home runs, including a walk off blast from senior Tyler Cotto to win the battle of I-77 over the Winthrop Eagles on Tuesday night.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Royals got the offense started early as leadoff hitter Jake Barbour drew a walk which was followed by a two-run home run by JJ Sousa to give the Royals an early 2-0 lead. Immediately following the home run, Winthrop starting pitcher Harrison Wilson retired the next three Queens batters in order.
• The top of the second inning began with two consecutive singles for the Eagles as they posed an immediate threat to score. However, a bunt attempt by Collin Lombardo was thrown away by Royals third baseman Zach Weston which allowed baserunner Alan Benhardt to attempt to score the first run for Winthrop. Benhardt, however, was thrown out at the plate for the first out of the inning by Jake Barbour who was backing up first base on the errant throw. After this play, there were runners on first and third as Ricky Teel grounded out to shortstop, scoring a run. The next batter hit an RBI single for Winthrop as the Eagles would tie the game 2-2 before the final out was recorded.
• The Royals continued their hot hitting into the bottom of the second inning as Nick Alderfer hit a solo home run into left-center field and the Royals regained a 3-2 lead. Outside of this home run, Harrison Wilson struck out the side as he recorded five strikeouts in the first two innings.
• For the third straight inning to begin the game, the Royals hit another home run as Dillon Lewis launched a moonshot into left field to give the Royals a 4-2 lead.
• Queens starter Joey Ruller pitched well in the third and fourth innings to keep the Royals at bay. His fortunes changed to begin the fifth inning as he allowed two singles and a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Anthony Ruocco hit an RBI single into left field to cut the Eagle deficit to 4-3 with the bases remaining loaded. Nick Badillo followed with a two-run single of his own to give the Eagles their first lead of the game which chased Ruller from the game as Isaiah Bennett took over with runners on first and second with no outs.
• Once Bennett entered the game, the senior allowed an inherited runner to score but struck out two batters to escape the jam as Winthrop held a 6-4 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.
• The Eagles once again struck in the sixth inning thanks to an RBI single from Chad Grossington which gave Winthrop a 7-4 lead. Despite the run, Bennett was able to finish off the sixth inning and recorded an out in the seventh before Blake Efird entered the game as the third Queens pitcher of the game. Winthrop would load the bases via walks before the Royals went back to the bullpen searching for an answer. The Eagles greeted the new arm with a bases-clearing three-RBI double increasing their lead to 10-4.
• Following a career game on Sunday, Matthew Corlew led off the bottom of the seventh with a double and reached third on a wild pitch. The Royals broke out offensively following this double after a throwing error allowed Corlew to score before an RBI double from Tyler Peters cut the deficit to 10-6 with runners on second and third with nobody out. The next batter, Jake Barbour hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 10-7. Immediately following, JJ Sousa hit an RBI double which chased Parker Whittle from the game for Winthrop. Lance Wade entered the game for the Eagles and allowed an RBI single to Dillon Lewis for the fifth run of the inning to cut the deficit to 10-9.
• The Eagles responded in the top of the eighth with a two-run home run of their own to extend the lead to 12-9. The bottom of the eighth began the same way as the bottom of the seventh as Matthew Corlew hit a leadoff double for the Royals which forced the Eagles to make another pitching change. Facing a new pitcher, Nick Alderfer hit his second home run of the game, a two-run shot which once again cut the deficit to one run. Two batters later, Tyler Peters hit a solo shot to tie the game at 12 apiece.
• After Joseph Rodriguez retired the Eagles 1-2-3, Tyler Cotto led off the bottom of the ninth inning and launched a walk off solo home run on the second pitch of the inning the give the Royals a 13-12 win.

 
BY THE NUMBERS

• The first-inning home run from JJ Sousa extended his team-high to four as the senior has reached safely in 6-of-8 games thus far.
• The solo home run in the second inning from Nick Alderfer was his first career home run in his third season with Queens. He followed the act with a clutch home run in the bottom of the eighth inning for the Royals first multi-home run game of the season.
• Following a historic performance on Sunday, Matthew Corlew had another strong offensive performance as he went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored.
• Charlotte native Joey Ruller gave the Royals four solid frames on the bump, including a career-high six strikeouts.
• Similar to Ruller, Royals reliever Isaiah Bennett also set a career-high in strikeouts as he victimized five Eagles in 2.1 innings of work.
• The Royals scored five runs in the seventh inning which is the most scored in a single inning during the 2024 season.
• After retiring the Eagles in order in the ninth inning, Joseph Rodriguez recorded his first career win thanks to the walk off home run in the ninth inning.
• The Royals were down six runs in the seventh inning making this the largest comeback victory for the Royals in the Division I era. The last time the Royals won a game in which they were down by six runs or more occurred on February 12, 2022 when they defeated Lander University 9-8 after trailing 6-0.
• The six team home runs tied a program record for the Royals which was previously set on March 3rd, 2023 versus Tennessee Tech.

 
NEXT UP
The Royals continue a tough non-conference stretch as they travel to Raleigh to play the 14th-ranked NC State Wolfpack on Wednesday, February 28^th. The first pitch has been bumped up an hour to 2:00 PM on the ACC Network. The meeting will be the first-ever matchup between the Royals and Wolfpack. Queens will return home this weekend for three games in two days against Lehigh. The Royals and Mountain Hawks are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday with first pitches at noon and 4:00 PM followed by a Sunday matchup with a first pitch at noon.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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