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ROCK HILL, SC— A walk-off single by senior Teja Durante capped off a 3-2 victory in nine innings to complete a series sweep as Winthrop captured the first game of the doubleheader 6-4, Saturday afternoon at Terry Field in Big South Conference softball action.

Durante stepped in with two outs and pinch-runner Zharne Glover at second as she ripped the first pitch through the hole at first and Glover hustled around third and slid home for the game-winning run.

The victories push the Eagles to 24-23 on the year and 12-9 in the Big South while Liberty falls to 19-28 overall and 8-13 in the league. It was the third series sweep on the season for the Eagles.

It was “Senior Day” at Terry Field and the seniors didn't disappoint as they played a big role in both wins. In addition to Durante's walk-off single, senior Kathryn Eberlin finished the day 4-for-4 with two runs and six RBI.

Trailing 1-0 in the second game of the day, Eberlin came through with two outs as she connected for her second home run of the day. Eberlin hit a two-run homer to center field for a 2-1 lead. The home run was the 15^th in her career as she moves into Winthrop's all-time Top 10 list at 10^th. The home run also gives Winthrop 53 on the year as a team, breaking the school record of 52 set by the 2004 team.  

The lead didn't hold long as Liberty came back to tie the game in the top of the fifth. Katie Zavodny had a lead-off single and stole second to get into scoring position. Zavodny moved to third on a sacrifice and then scored on a squeeze play as Kassidy McCoy laid down a perfect bunt and was safe at first.

Both teams had chances to take the lead over the next four innings as Liberty left six runners stranded while the Eagles left four on base before scoring the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.

Senior Chelsey Schoenfeldt started the game in the pitching circle for Winthrop as she tossed four innings allowing one run on five hits with no walks and three strikeouts but didn't factor into the decision. Sutton Watson relieved her and tossed five innings allowing one run on four hits with a walk and two strikeouts as she is now 14-12 on the year.

Annah Jo Brittingham falls to 8-9 on the year after allowing three runs on eight hits with five walks and seven strikeouts in 8.2 innings.
Eberlin made it 4-0 in favor of the Eagles when she took a 1-1 pitch over the fence in right field for her 8^th of the season. McKenzi Corn started it off with a one-out walk and then Schoenfeldt singled to center before Eberlin came through with the long ball.

Liberty tried to get back in the game in the sixth inning as Zavodny led off with a single to right and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Sammi Shivock hit a tough chopper to shortstop that wasn't handled cleanly by Jenna Harbin but she was able to recover and flip the ball over to third to get Zavodny sliding into the bag.  After McCoy reached after getting hit, Kelby Allen came through with a single to right, scoring Shivock from second.

Kelsey Ritter and Melanie Andrea put Winthrop up 6-1 in the sixth inning. Jenna Harbin started the inning off with a single through the left side and was replaced at first by Glover, who pinch-ran for Harbin. Glover stole second and then moved to third after the throw to second squirted into the outfield. Ritter then hit a chopper toward first base that allowed Glover to score. The next batter was Andrea and she hammered a shot down the left field line that cleared the fence for her second home run of the season. Those two runs proved to be big for the Eagles as Liberty fought back in the seventh.

The Flames tried to rally in the seventh inning as Amber Donovan led off the inning with a solo home run to center. Megan Robinson was hit on the next play and then moved to second on a Zavodny slap single to right field. Sutton Watson hit the next batter to load the bases and then Shivock walked to cut the Eagles lead in half at 6-3. The third run of the inning came on as sacrifice fly by McCoy, scoring Zavodny from third. Watson worked her way out of the jam and improved to 13-12 on the year. She allowed all four runs on eight hits with a walk and six strikeouts as she tossed her 15^th complete game of the season.  

Liberty's Chandler Ball suffered the loss and falls to 8-12 after allowing six runs on eight hits with four walks and eight strikeouts in six innings.

Winthrop took a 1-0 lead in the first as it loaded the bases and Eberlin drew a walk for her first RBI of the day. That was all the Eagles got as Alex White and Harbin struck out back-to-back to end the threat.

Eberlin was one of four Eagles on the day with multiple-hits as Schoenfeldt and Andrea had three while Durante had two.

Zavodny finished with five hits on the day as she also had three runs and three stolen bases. Shivock, Allen and Donovan all finished with two hits on the day.

Winthrop won't be back in action until Tuesday, April 30 when it travels up the road to take on Charlotte in a doubleheader starting at 7 p.m. Liberty returns home for its final seven games of the season beginning with a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 24 at 2 p.m. against Virginia.