Box Score
COLUMBIA, SC- The Winthrop softball team dropped its second in a row, suffering a 9-1 loss in five innings at South Carolina, Wednesday evening.
With the loss, the Eagles drop to 4-4 on the year and the Gamecocks improve to 7-3.
Head Coach
Mark Cooke said after the game with the Eagles' in-state rivals, “This was a tough loss today. We weren't sharp on defense, on the mound or in the batter's box. We got runners on base and didn't give up but didn't get the hits we needed to score runs. We play teams like USC so that we can get better and be as good as we can be for our conference season. We are looking forward to the incredible competition in Florida this weekend.”
The struggles for the Eagles began in the first inning with starting pitcher
Natalie Becker giving up four runs on two hits. She was replaced by
Sutton Watson who gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits in an inning. Sutton started the second inning but was replaced by
Chelsey Schoenfeldt, who ended up allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits with no walks and two strikeouts in 2.2 innings. Schoenfeldt held the Gamecocks to one more run in the inning but was pulled in the 5
th after giving up three straight hits.
The only run scored by the Eagles came off the bat of sophomore Paige Hartfield. Senior
Taylor Wright recorded her first hit of the season, a pinch-hit single to right field. Schoenfeldt followed her with a big base hit up the middle putting runners on first and third. Freshman
Kelsey Ritter walked to load the bases and then Hartfield was walked for her first RBI as an Eagle.
Even though the Eagles only scored one run today, their bats were not quiet.
Megan Chapman had two hits, and Melanie Andrea and
Chelsey Schoenfeldt each had one hit continuing their hot streaks at the plate. Chapman has now hit safely in five straight games.
The Eagles will head to the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, FL this weekend to face tough competition, which starts on Friday against #10 Tennessee at 3:30 p.m. and will also face Boston on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Winthrop will also face Illinois, DePaul and #17 Louisiana-Lafayette.
