WINTHROP -- Whether he was trying to or not, Winthrop left-hander Forrest Dwyer had Lisbon batters hitting the ball in the air Monday afternoon.

Of the Greyhounds' 21 outs, 17 were fly balls, many of those popups.

It added up to a 3-2 win for the Ramblers who are in a battle for first place in the Mountain Valley Conference.

The win leaves Winthrop at 6-1 while Lisbon falls to 5-2.

Dwyer allowed five hits, walked four (one intentionally) and struck out two.

"If you don't get this game, then the MVC championship is basically already gone," he said. "It's just great to come back after a pretty tough game against Livermore."

Dwyer, 2-1, was the losing pitcher against Livermore last week but bounced back nicely against the Greyhounds.

"The curve ball and changeup kept them off balance," Dwyer said.

"And the high fastball . . . they just popped it up."

The Ramblers led from start to finish against Lisbon ace Kyle Neagle, scoring single runs in the first, second and fifth innings.

They collected all five of their hits off Neagle in the first two innings

The Greyhounds cut the lead to 2-1 in the third inning with an unearned run -- the Ramblers made four errors on ground balls -- and posed another threat in the seventh when they scored a run and loaded the bases with two outs after Winthrop coach Marc Fortin ordered an intentional walk to catcher Andy Ouellette.

"There was serious pressure on Forrest," Fortin said. "Bases loaded and he's got to pitch to this little guy."

Fortin was referring to 5-foot-5 second baseman Nick Jones, who ended the game, fittingly, with a popup to the pitcher's mound.

"Forrest is a very good pitcher," Lisbon coach Randy Ridley said.

"But we did not swing the bats like we could have, and it showed with a lot of fly ball outs."

The Ramblers scored a run in the first inning when Tyler Cobb singled and eventually scored when the Greyhounds couldn't turn a double play on Jordan Conant's ground ball.

Riley Cobb singled in the second and scored on Bryan Lawson's base hit. And Dave Ricker added an insurance run in the fifth when he walked and scored on Dwyer's sacrifice fly.

Gary Hawkins -- 621-5638

ghawkins@centralmaine.com