ROCK HILL, SC— Beginning Saturday, the softball team will host a three-game series against Big South Conference foe Liberty, in a rematch of last season's conference tournament semi-final game.
Winthrop will face the Flames in a double-header on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. and then the series will wrap-up on Sunday at 2 p.m. as the two teams will square off in a game televised on ESPNU.
Winthrop is coming off a 9-1 home win over Akron and is looking for its first conference win as it is 8-20 overall and 0-2 in the league. Liberty enters the contest with a 10-13 record and 1-1 conference record and is coming off an 11-2 win over Radford on March 26. The two teams split a double-header that day, but the third game is still incomplete as the two teams were tied 3-3 heading to extra innings when the game was called due to severe weather and is scheduled to be completed on April 28 so currently Liberty's schedule reads 10-13-1.
Since the conference expanded its series with opponents to three games, three of the four regular season meetings between these two teams have resulted in a sweeps. In fact, the last three series have been a sweep with Liberty capturing the series in 2010 and Winthrop sweeping Liberty in 2008 and 2009. Liberty won the first ever three-game series in conference play against Winthrop, 2-1, in Rock Hill. Last year in Lynchburg, VA, Winthrop managed just three runs in four games as Liberty's Tiffani Smith had an outstanding weekend in the circle. Smith was 2-0 in three appearances and two starts as she allowed just four hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts. That weekend Winthrop's offense was 8-for-71 (.113 average).
Smith is a senior and currently 3-7 on the year with a 4.53 ERA with 44 strikeouts and 34 walks.
Sophomore Katrin Johnson has been the ace of the Liberty staff this year as she's 6-4 with a 1.72 ERA and 46 strikeouts to 19 walks.
Junior Kelly Strickland leads the Flames offensively with a .328 average and has five home runs and 14 RBI. Junior Jenny Law leads the team with 18 RBI while senior Ashley Bensinger is second with 16 RBI.
Liberty started off the season 7-4, but has since dropped nine of its last 12 games. Four of the losses were by one run.
Winthrop has had its share of one-run games this year, boasting a 1-6 record in those games.
Senior Brittany Stoudemire currently leads Winthrop with a .311 batting average and is tops on the team with 14 RBI. Senior Veronica Berrie is swinging a hot bat lately and has her average up to .308 and is now second on the team with 10 RBI. She has a hit in nine of the last 12 games and is currently riding a six-game hit streak.
Winthrop will likely throw Chelsey Schoenfeldt and Ashleigh Jackson on Saturday. Schoenfeldt is 3-6 with a 3.43 ERA while Jackson is 2-7 with a 4.03 ERA.
