ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop softball is back in action this weekend as it heads just up the road to Spartanburg, SC for the Spartan Classic hosted by USC Upstate. Winthrop will open on Friday against Furman at 2 p.m.
Winthrop's first game against Furman was originally scheduled to start at 1 p.m. but the entire Friday schedule was adjusted due to the forecast of rain in the morning.
The matchup versus Furman is the only contest on Friday for the Eagles who will face USC Upstate at 1 p.m. and Furman at 5 p.m. on Saturday before wrapping up the weekend against Western Carolina on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Eagles participated in the Spartan Invitational last year as it suffered a 3-1 loss to George Mason and earned a 1-0 win over Samford before the remainder of the weekend was canceled due to poor weather conditions.
So far this season the Eagles have faced good competition and the weekend won't be any different.
The Eagles have been shutout four times but have also exploded for runs in their three wins, combining for 23 runs in those three games. Leading the way offensively are seniors
McKenzi Corn,
Mel Andrea and
Alex White. Corn is averaging a team-best .360 with four runs and three RBI and has an on-base percentage of .467. Andrea is batting .259 with two runs and tied for the team lead with five RBI. White is second on the team with a .292 average and is tied for the team-least in RBI with five.
Sutton Watson is off to a solid start as she's 3-1 on the year with a 3.65 earned run average. In all three wins she's tossed a complete game. Senior Sarah Allen, outside of her numbers against Auburn, has been strong in the circle. She is 0-2 on the year but has a 3.29 ERA (2.00 minus the Auburn game) and has only allowed three extra-base hits in 17.1 innings. Sophomore
Dallas King has made two starts and is 0-2 with a team-leading 2.03 ERA in 10.1 innings.
Winthrop will face Furman for the 57
th and 58
th times as it holds a slight edge in the all-time series at 31-25. Winthrop's game against the Paladins last season was canceled due to bad weather and so the last time the two teams met was 2011 in Columbia, SC. Winthrop defeated Furman 12-4 in the season-opener.
The Paladins opened up the season with solid competition as well facing Mercer, nationally-ranked Georgia and Presbyterian College and are 1-5 entering Friday's game. Sieara Bishop leads the team with a .294 average while Nikki Legg is second at .231 with a run scored and stolen base.
Shelby Parker is likely to be the starter in the circle for Furman on Friday as she is coming off a three-hit shutout against the Blue Hose in which she struck out a career-high 13. She is 1-2 on the year with a 5.02 ERA and 19 strikeouts to six walks in 15.1 innings.
Winthrop and USC Upstate meet for the sixth time as the Eagles are 1-4 against the Spartans all-time. The last meeting also came in 2011 in Columbia, SC as the Spartans won 9-1.
The Spartans have received votes in both Top 25 polls this week coming in at 28
th in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll and 30
th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.
This season the Spartans are a perfect 10-0 and have been explosive offensively with a .362 average and 6.2 runs per game average. There have only been two games in which they've scored less than six runs, which came in the season-opener in a 1-0 win over Gardner-Webb and a 3-2 win over George Mason.
Offensively USC Upstate is led by Shellie Robinson who has 12 runs, four doubles, five home runs and 14 RBI to go along with a .563 average. Kendall Settlemyre is averaging .450 in eight starts with five runs and three RBI while Erin Schattle is hitting .421 with four runs, and seven RBI. Meredith Barnes is second on the team with nine RBI while Dana Landers and Cheyenne Griffin each have eight.
Winthrop could see one of two pitchers as Hannah Alexander and Lexi Shubert are both 4-0 on the season. Alexander has an ERA of 0.35 with 27 strikeouts to three walks in 20 innings. Shubbert has a 0.79 ERA with 28 strikeouts to three walks in 26.2 innings.
The Eagles final opponent of the weekend will be Western Carolina, who the Eagles are 6-2 against all-time. The two teams split a doubleheader in Cullowhee, NC in 2013 with the Eagles taking the first 8-7 and then falling 7-5 in the second game.
The Catamounts are 0-5 to start the season with losses to Fordham, Mississippi, Kansas, DePaul and the College of Charleston, which is a strong group of opponents.
Taylor Sigmon has a team-best .429 batting average while Heather Chastain is batting .33 and is second on the team with two RBI. Karley Harkey has a team-best three RBI and is hitting .250. Jordan Garrett has the most innings in the circle for Western Carolina as she's 0-3 with a 4.00 ERA with 16 strikeouts to five walks in 14 innings.
