ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop softball looks to carry momentum from Wednesday's double-header sweep of Western Carolina as it heads to Conway, SC for a three-game series with Coastal Carolina beginning Saturday.
The two teams will play a double-header on Saturday, April 9 beginning at 1 p.m. and then wrap-up the series with a 1 p.m. single game on Sunday.
With the two wins on Wednesday, Winthrop is now 11-22 on the year and looking to improve on its 1-4 league record. After opening up the season 14-6, Coastal Carolina looks to end a 15-game losing streak as it enters the series with a 14-21 overall record and 0-2 in the conference. The Chanticleers have been shut out five times and averaged 1.2 runs per game during the losing streak.
This series features the two teams in the league that do not have at least three wins in conference play.
Winthrop has won three of its last five games and four of its last six games as it has really opened up offensively as of late. The Eagles managed just seven home runs through the first 28 games of the season, but have hit eight in the last five games. That includes two grand slams within five days by sophomore Chelsey Schoenfeldt.
Winthrop has scored a total of 38 runs in the last five games (7.6 per game) and Schoenfeldt has 13 RBI and is batting .600 during that stretch. Schoenfeldt has really sparked the offense and has pushed her batting average from .292 after the first game against Georgia Tech to a team-high .357 and currently has a career-best seven-game hitting streak. Also riding a seven-game hitting streak is senior Brittany Stoudemire, who hit two home runs in the sweep at Western Carolina. The starting second baseman is averaging .526 with four runs and six RBI in the last five games. Winthrop, as a team, is batting .367 in the last five games and has 16 extra-base hits.
The Chanticleers are led by freshman Brooke Donovan and junior Chelsea Pineda as they lead the team with a .299 average. Donovan has a team-high 12 runs and is also 12-for-14 on the bases. Pineda has a team-high four home runs and is fourth in RBI with 10. Sophomore third baseman Jazmin Daigle leads the team with 15 RBI while Jessie Winans is second with 13.
It's likely the Eagles will see different pitchers each game on Saturday as freshman Ashley Bagwell has accounted for 15 starts while senior Michelle Evans has 13.
These two teams met back in February at the Palmetto State Showdown in Columbia, SC as Winthrop put 11 runs up in the first inning and cruised to a 12-1 victory in five innings. Freshman Natalie Becker earned the win for Winthrop as she struck out a career-high 11 batters. Katelin Edwards started that game, one of her seven for the season.
The first game on Saturday will mark the 90th all-time meeting between the two schools as Winthrop holds a 50-39 advantage in the series, but the two teams have split the last four meetings.
