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ROCK HILL, SC—The Winthrop softball team will look to end its two-game losing streak as it heads to Clearwater, FL for a very competitive NFCA Leadoff Classic beginning Friday, Feb. 24.
Winthrop will begin play on Friday at 3:30 p.m. against the University of Tennessee, which is ranked 9
th in the
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 and 10
th in the
NFCA Top 25. Winthrop will then face Boston University on Friday at 6:30 p.m. On Saturday, Winthrop will face DePaul at 1 p.m. and Illinois at 3:30 p.m. The Lady Eagles will finish up on Sunday at 10 a.m. when they take on nationally ranked Louisiana-Lafayette. The Ragin' Cajuns are ranked 17
th by the NFCA and 18
th in the
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25.
This is the Lady Eagles second trip to the NFCA Leadoff Classic as the team participated in the tournament in 2008. The team went 1-4 that year with a 1-0 win over Auburn. The team lost a couple of tight games against, Illinois State, #17 DePaul and #12 Michigan before falling 3-0 on the final day to Tennessee Tech.
Winthrop has lost two straight and is now 4-4 on the year. Offensively the Lady Eagles are scoring 3.6 runs per game while allowing 5.0.
Junior
Chelsey Schoenfeldt and senior
Megan Chapman lead the team in batting with a .500 average. Schoenfeldt leads the team with 10 RBI and 13 hits while Chapman is on a five-game hitting streak and leads the team with five stolen bases.
Another player having a solid start to the season offensively is junior Melanie Andrea. The centerfielder is batting .333 with two runs, a homer and eight RBI.
The Lady Vols are 6-2 on the year and are coming off a tough 3-2 loss to 8
th-ranked Texas on Feb. 19. Winthrop is 0-3 all-time against Tennessee.
Player to Watch: Ellen Renfroe, So., RHP—2011 All-American, 5-0 with a 1.79 ERA with 60 strikeouts to 12 walks in 43 innings of work. Has tossed three shutouts
The Boston Terriers have played a game this season but will open up with Illinois State on Friday at 1 p.m. Winthrop and Boston met for the first time last season, as the Terriers prevailed 4-1 at the USF The Game Tournament.
Player to Watch: Chelsea Kehr, So., DH/INF—2011 America East Rookie of the Year, Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-Region, 2011 stats (.336, 25 runs, 9 doubles, 10 home runs, 46 RBI)
DePaul is off to a 6-4 start and has won three of the last four games. The Blue Demons started off their season in Hawaii where they picked up three wins and captured three more last weekend at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas, NV. The last two losses have been to #1/3 California (2-0) and Texas Tech (2-1). The Lady Eagles are 0-1 all-time vs. DePaul.
Player to Watch: Megan Coronado, So., OF/1B— Batting .343 on the year and is tied for team lead in runs with seven. Has hit two home runs and has six RBI and is 2-for-2 on the bases.
The Fighting Illini have started the season 3-5 after tournaments in Texas and Florida. The team started the season at the Florida International Combat Classic in Miami where the team went 2-3 with wins over Michigan State and Alabama-Birmingham. This past weekend, Illinois picked up a 1-0 win over Pittsburgh and suffered a 10-7 setback to Tennessee and a 2-1 loss in eight innings to Pitt. This will be the first ever meeting against Illinois for the Lady Eagles.
Player to Watch: Meredith Hackett, Sr., IF—2011 NFCA All-Region selection, 2010 Louisville Slugger/NFCA First Team All-American, batting a team-best .400 so far in eight games (all starts) with two runs, two home runs and six RBI
Louisiana Lafayette enters the weekend with a perfect 7-0 mark on the year. This will be the first ever meeting between the two schools.
Player to Watch: Christi Orgeron, Sr., RF—2011 All-American, USA Softball Collegiate National Player of the Week (Feb. 21) and is batting .708 with 18 runs, six home runs and 27 RBI on the season.
