Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
www.winthropphotos.com

ROCK HILL, SC— Sophomore pitchers Sutton Watson and Sara Allen turned in strong performances to help Winthrop pick up a 3-0 victory over Kent State and a 10-2 win in six innings over North Carolina A&T, Saturday at the Winthrop/adidas Invitational.

Winthrop improves to 10-11 on the year while North Carolina A&T falls to 1-12 and Kent State is now 7-10. Winthrop wraps-up play in the Winthrop/adidas Invitational on Sunday when it faces Harvard at noon.

In the nightcap, Winthrop scored four runs in the third inning that was highlighted by a two-run home run off the bat of senior Teja Durante as she homered for the second straight day. The Eagles added two more runs in the fourth when a throw by Aggies catcher Alexiss Dominguez found its way into the outfield, allowing McKenzi Corn and Kristy Noble to come around and score.

I thought the first game Sutton Watson was absolutely phenomenal,” said Winthrop head coach Mark Cooke. “She threw a terrific ball game. That's how we want to compete against quality schools like Kent State. It was Sara's first college win today. I thought she did a really good job out there. We're getting hitting and big hits from a lot of different kids. It's a good tournament and good teams here. What I enjoyed today is we went out there and took care of business. We hit the ball, we ran the bases, played great defense, and we got great pitching.”

In the top of the fourth, Winthrop added two more runs for a 6-0 lead as Brooke Tracey scored on a passed ball and Durante scored on a double off the wall in left by Noble.

Winthrop added four more runs in the sixth inning as Alex White highlighted the inning with a three-run homer to straight away center. It was her second home run of the season.

Allen tossed a complete game of six innings allowing two runs (one earned) with no walks and a career-best seven strikeouts as she gets her first collegiate win and she is now 1-2 on the year.

In the first game of the day, senior Chelsey Schoenfeldt homered for the second straight game as she got the Eagles on the scoreboard first with a three-run shot to right center. Noble got it started with a single to center and Corn followed with a double to left center to put runners at second and third for Schoenfeldt. Her home run extended her hitting streak to six games before the streak ended in the game against North Carolina A&T. However, Schoenfeldt has reached base in nine straight games.

Sutton Watson pitched a complete game to improve to 7-6 on the year as she recorded her second career shutout allowing three hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

In the bottom of the third, Winthrop looked to add to is lead as it loaded the bases with one out. Noble led it off with a one-out single followed by a Corn single to left field. Schoenfeldt drew a walk to load the bases. However, Kent State pitcher Emma Johnson struck out Kathryn Eberlin and Kelsey Ritter to end the threat.

The Golden Flashes loaded the bases in the top of the fourth with one away as Lauren Grimes singled to left and then Erika Warren and Michele Duffy were plunked to load the bases. Watson worked out of the jam by striking out pinch-hitter Catie Kilbane and then Ritter snagged a line drive at third by Jessacca Gironda to end the threat.

Johnson was solid for the Golden Flashes inside the circle as she tossed a complete game six innings allowing the three runs on five hits with a walk and eight strikeouts.

Corn and Noble combined to go 8-for-12 on the day with six runs and two RBI while White finished 3-for-4 with a run and three RBI in her only start of the day. Noble and White currently have four-game hitting streaks.