ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop needed two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to avoid a first round upset on the opening day of the Big South Conference Softball Championship at the hands of fifth-seeded Birmingham-Southern in a 3-2 come from behind victory.
Freshman Jo-Lynn Smith’s infield single in the bottom of the sixth inning proved to be the game-winning hit. Winthrop started off the inning with a double to left center by junior Tessa Thomas. Junior Lisa Kingsmore followed by hitting a hard line drive to third base, but the Panthers Anne Lawrence made a nice snag to keep Winthrop off the board and Thomas at second base. That was followed by an infield single by senior Stephanie Reid.
Junior Mallory Hogan ripped a single to left field, scoring Thomas from second to tie the game. Reid went to third on the throw home and Hogan was able to advance to second. That’s when Smith came through with the infield hit that scored Reid and gave Winthrop a victory to improve to 34-7 on the year.
“We didn’t seem to come out with any fire in the early going,” said head coach Mark Cooke, who’s Eagles won their first round tournament game for the fifth time in the past six seasons. “We finally settled into the game and at the end we were able to do what we do well and that is score runs with the top of our order. (Betheny) Reynoldson pitched an outstanding game and was tough on our hitters today.”
Winthrop jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Thomas scored on a Kingsmore single up the middle. Birmingham-Southern (32-27) rallied in the fourth and fifth innings to take a 2-1 lead. Grace Stokes led off the fourth with a single and came around to score from first on a double to right center by Lawrence. In the fifth inning, Kayla Backlund led off with a walk and advanced to second on a ground out. Lindsay Creighton singled to the left side and to put runners at the corners. Creighton eventually came around to score on a fielder’s choice.
Sophomore Megan Evans started the game for the Eagles, but did not figure into the decision as she allowed one run on five hits with one walk and four strikeouts in four innings of work. Sophomore Cari Wooldridge tossed three innings of relief allowing one run on one hit with a walk and two strikeouts to improve to 15-9 on the year.
Winthrop will face the winner of the Radford/Coastal Carolina game at 3 p.m. on Friday in the winner’s bracket of the championship.
