COLUMBIA, SC— The Winthrop softball team split on the final day of the Palmetto State Showdown as it defeated Coastal Carolina 12-1 in the first game of the day before falling 9-1 to USC Upstate.
Winthrop is now 2-2 on the season and has scored 10 or more runs in two of the first four games of the season.
In the first game of the day, it was a polar opposite of a year ago when the Lady Eagles faced Coastal Carolina in the same tournament. Last season Coastal's Katelin Edwards tossed a one-hitter and allowed just one other base runner with a walk in a 2-0 victory. This year Winthrop's bats showed up in a big way as it exploded for 11 runs in the top of the first inning as Winthrop posted double-figure runs for the second time in three games.
Megan Chapman led off the game by flying out to left field, but then the next 13 batters reached base. It all started off with a walk by McKenzie Corn, who scored on an opposite field double by Taylor Wright that drove in Corn all the way from first. Back-to-back singles loaded the bases for Brittany Stoudemire, who pulled a pitch into the game at right center for a bases-clearing triple. Kathryn Eberlin followed with a single up the middle to score Stoudemire for a 5-0 lead. At that point Coastal's Megan Johnson was pulled out of the game and replaced by Edwards.
Kelly Blea followed with a single up the middle and moved to second as Teja Durante drew a walk to load the bases. All the runners advanced one base as Eberlin came home to score on a wild pitch. Chapman followed with a walk to load the bases once again. Corn grounded to short, but a fielding error allowed Durante and Blea to come around and score and Chapman to move over to third as Winthrop led 8-0. Wright stepped up with another chance to drive in a run and didn't disappoint as she singled to left. After Corn scored on another fielding error by the Chanticleers, Veronica Berrie made it 11-0 on a single to center, scoring Wright.
Freshman Natalie Becker earned her first career win as she tossed all five innings allowing one run on three hits with a walk and 11 strikeouts.
“After 11 runs in the first we were able to cruise after that,” said Mark Cooke. “It was a day of two different ball games.”
Wright, Blea and Berrie each finished the game against the Chanticleers with two hits each. The three RBI by Stoudemire was a career-high.
The second game got away from the Lady Eagles in the third and fourth innings as the team's fielding let them down.
Winthrop trailed 2-0 heading into the third inning when Wright committed an error at first with runners at second and third and two outs. The throw by Wright was errant and allowed both runners to score for a 4-0 lead for the Spartans. Erica Kaufman made it 5-0 when she singled to right center. USC Upstate tacked on three more runs in fourth and one more in the fifth to end the game in five innings.
Winthrop's lone run came on a Jenna Harbin single to right field in the fifth inning. That hit scored Eberlin, who reached on a single and stole second.
Ashleigh Jackson tossed three and one-third innings allowing four earned runs on nine hits, three walks and three strikeouts and is now 1-1 on the year.
“The last game was just full of routine errors,” added Cooke, who is now just three wins shy of 600 as head coach of Winthrop. “AJ actually pitched pretty well today, we just made too many mistakes. We come back down here Wednesday to take on the Gamecocks. We'll have to execute and pitch better to compete with those guys.”
Becker and Berrie were both named to the All-Tournament Team. Berrie went 6-for-13 with a double, triple, home run, three runs and three RBI on the weekend and has a four-game hit streak.
Wright also has a four-game hitting streak this season and five-game overall dating back to the final game of the 2010 season. Wright was 7-for-13 in the tournament with four runs and four RBI.
Winthrop will be back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 16 when it heads back down to Columbia, SC to take on South Carolina at 3 p.m.
