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Chevron Spring Fling Opponent Capsules

ROCK HILL, SC—Having won six of its last seven games, the Winthrop softball team heads to Honolulu, HI for its biggest test of the season at the Chevron Spring Fling Tournament hosted by the University of Hawai'i.

Winthrop is 11-10 on the season and will face a tough schedule as five of the team's six games will be against nationally-ranked teams. Winthrop will start off with a single-game on Wednesday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m. (EST) against sixth-ranked Texas followed by a single-game on Thursday, March 15 against 21^st-ranked Texas A&M at 5 p.m. (EST). The Eagles will then play two games on Friday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m. against Marist and a 10 p.m. matchup with sixth-ranked Texas. The Eagles will wrap-up play on Saturday, March 17 when it takes on top-ranked California at 7:30 p.m. and then face 19^th-ranked Hawai'i at 10 p.m.

Winthrop has already faced three ranked teams and is 1-2 in those games with the lone win coming over 9^th-ranked Tennessee at the NFCA Leadoff Classic. Winthrop did face DePaul in the same tournament, but the Blue Demons were not ranked until after. The Eagles game against nationally-ranked Georgia was rained out.

On March 2, the Eagles found themselves with a 5-9 record after a loss to 25^th-ranked Georgia Tech in the opener of the Buzz Classic.
Since then the Eagles reeled off five straight wins and have won six of the last seven games. Winthrop has used a balanced offense and solid pitching and defense during the last seven. The team has a team average of .290 and has scored 4.7 runs while the pitching staff has a 2.33 ERA during that stretch and has tossed three shutouts.

The team turned on the power numbers during that stretch with 16 extra base hits (10 home runs and six doubles). Winthrop had just four home runs in the previous 14 games. In 2010 and 2011, Winthrop had just 21 total home runs each season. The offense has been very balanced as eight different players have hit home runs in the last seven games and 10 different players have an RBI and nine of them with multiple RBI.

Freshman second baseman Kristy Noble has the best average over the last seven games as she's hitting .400 with two runs, two doubles, a home run and two RBI as she's starting to settle in at the plate. Senior catcher Kelly Blea has also started to hit the ball as she made three starts and appeared in five games as she has three hits, three runs, a home run and two RBI in that span.

One of the most consistent hitters on the season has been junior Chelsey Schoenfeldt, who was named the Big South Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season on Monday, March 12. Schoenfeldt is batting .383 with seven runs, four doubles, two home runs and 16 RBI on the season with a .465 on-base percentage. She has a team-high 10 walks and has just four strikeouts in 60 at-bats. During the recent success (7 games) of the Eagles, Schoenfeldt is hitting .381 with five runs and five RBI. Schoenfeldt pulls double-duty as she's started 11 games this season and is 5-5 with a 3.88 ERA. In the last seven games, she's 3-1 in five appearances (four starts) with a 2.49 ERA and has struck out 14 in 19.2 innings with four walks. Schoenfeldt is two hits away from 100 in her career and is closing in on 70 career RBI (62).

Senior shortstop Megan Chapman leads the team with a .388 average to go along with 11 runs, and a team-high eight stolen bases. This past weekend she was named the Winthrop/adidas Invitational Most Valuable Player. Over the last seven games, Chapman is hitting .370 with five runs, a double and two RBI with a .393 on-base percentage and 2-for-3 on the bases. She's also perfect in the field with no errors in 22 opportunities with 10 putouts and 12 assists. Chapman is closing in on 100 career runs (90) and is just two shy of 60 career RBI.

A pleasant surprise for the Eagles this season is the emergence of junior Mel Andrea and sophomore McKenzi Corn. Andrea missed the 2011 season and has responded well to being named the starting center fielder prior to the season and is batting .255 with five runs, two home runs and 12 RBI. She's been very clutch for the team has two of her RBI hits have tied the game, three have been go-ahead RBI hits and three of them are game-winners. She hit an eighth inning two-run home run to tie the game at 4-4 in the loss to Tennessee Tech and then hit a two-run home run to tie the game at 4-4 in the win over St. John's. Corn started 27 games last year and has doubled her hits this season in just 21 starts with 18. She's got a team-high 13 runs and is 7-for-8 on the bases.

Sophomore Natalie Becker has been sharing starting duties in the circle with Schoenfeldt and is 5-5 on the season with a 3.26 ERA with 65 strikeouts in 66.2 innings pitched. In the last seven games she's 3-0 with a 1.79 ERA with six appearances (three starts) and 31 strikeouts in 27.1 innings. She's been even more impressive in her last three starts allowing just five hits, no runs and striking out five in 17.1 innings. In a starting role, she's not allowed a run in the last 20 innings pitched since allowing the two runs in the fourth inning of the 3-2 loss to Illinois.

Winthrop will be facing Texas and Marist for the first time in school history as its faced California, Texas A&M and Hawai'i in the past. Winthrop is 0-1 against California, 0-2 against Texas A&M and 0-4 against Hawai'i.