ROCK HILL, SC—The Winthrop softball team will host the University of South Carolina in its home opener on Wednesday, Mar. 4 at 5 p.m.
The Lady Eagles look to end a five-game skid as they take on the Gamecocks in a single game at Terry Field. Winthrop is 3-7 on the year and has lost five straight since it defeated South Carolina, 5-2 on Feb. 16. Three of the last five losses have been by one run.
This will be the 58th time that South Carolina and Winthrop have squared off with the Gamecocks leading the series 46-10-1.
Winthrop is likely to start freshman Natalie Becker in the circle as she's had a solid start to the 2011 season. She's currently 2-3 with a 3.32 earned run average and has 41 strikeouts and 18 walks in 31.2 innings.
Sophomore outfielder Teja Durante has gotten off to a good start at the plate, batting .429 with starts in all 10 games. She's leading the team with five runs and is also tied for first in the Big South with two triples. Chelsey Schoenfeldt has started all 10 games and is batting .348 with three runs and four RBI. Senior Brittany Stoudemire has been starting at second base this season and is currently hitting .333 with a team-best six RBI.
South Carolina is likely to go with Julie Sarratt in the circle as she's posted a 4-1 record with a 1.30 ERA and 28 strikeouts, 10 walks in 27 innings of work.
As a team the Gamecocks are batting .294 and are led by Samie Garcia's .400 average. Garcia, a shortstop, has started all 13 games and has a team-best 10 runs. She also has two home runs and seven RBI. Kaitlin Westfall is hitting .333 with four runs and six RBI while Hannah Milks is batting .310 with seven runs and is a perfect 3-for-3 on the base paths.
The Lady Eagles have won their past two home openers and seven of their past eight. Wednesday's opener isn't likely to go like the past two in which Winthrop has defeated its opponent 9-0 in five innings both times (Siena in 2010 and Monmouth in 2009).
So far this season, Winthrop has 36 runs scored with 27 of them coming in the first three innings. The team is 0-7 in games decided by four runs or less.
