ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop softball travels to Presbyterian College Wednesday afternoon with an opportunity to sweep the regular season series when the two teams meet at 3 p.m.
Winthrop captured 4-3 and 9-5 victories over the Blue Hose last week (Mar. 20) to sweep a doubleheader in Clinton, SC. The two victories gave the Eagles their first regular season series against the Blue Hose since 2010. The Eagles had been 2-7 in the previous three seasons.
The Eagles enter the contest on a two-game skid as it dropped the final two games of the Longwood series in Farmville, VA last weekend (Mar. 22-23). Winthrop is 16-15 on the year and 4-4 in the Big South, which currently puts the Eagles in fourth place in the league standings. PC enters the game having won two straight and took the weekend series from Charleston Southern on the road after dropping the first of three games. The Blue Hose are 16-12 overall and 2-3 in the league.
Winthrop posted a 14-3 win over Longwood in the series opener, but fell 3-0 and then 9-4 in the series finale. The 14 runs were a season-high and the second time in a five-game span that the Eagles had 12 or more runs in a game. Winthrop has been shutout eight times this season, but just once in the last 19 games. On the year the Eagles are scoring 4.2 runs per game and 5.4 in the last 19 games.
There hasn't been just one or two players providing the offense for the Eagles as six different players have 11 or more RBI in the last 19 games and 13 players have driven in at least one run in that span.
Senior
Mel Andrea has 19 RBI in the last 19 games and has scored 13 runs while batting .375. She is currently third on the team in batting with a .327 average and leads the team in RBI with 24. She's already set career-highs in runs, hits, doubles, home runs and RBI. She is currently riding a five-game hit streak.
Over the last 19 games, senior
McKenzi Corn and freshman
Maddie Antone have been smashing the ball. Corn is hitting .475 while Antone is batting .465 over that stretch. Corn is batting .446 on the year as she leads the team and is in search of her second straight season with a .400 or better average. During the last 19 games Corn has 16 runs, six doubles, 11 RBI and an on-base percentage of .536. Antone, who is currently riding an eight-game hitting streak, has nine runs, four home runs, 13 RBI and a .564 on-base percentage in the last 19 contests. In eight league games, Antone leads the Eagles with a .524 average while Corn is hitting .520.
The top offensive player for the Eagles since they entered league play has been freshman
Megan Winningham, who has six runs, three home runs and nine RBI in eight conference games. Senior
Alex White is second on the team in RBI during conference play with eight and is second on the Eagles for the entire season with 17.
In the doubleheader at PC on Mar. 20, junior
Kelsey Ritter finished the day 5-for-8 at the plate with three runs and three RBI. Antone was 4-for-7 with a run and two RBI.
Winthrop has jumped on its opponents early in the last 19 games, which has helped them post a 13-6 record during that stretch. The Eagles have outscored their opponents 35-14 in the first two innings and 54-24 in the first three innings.
While the Eagles have suffered some injuries to key players over the last few weeks, Winthrop's depth has helped the team maintain its momentum as it seems to be getting stronger each week.
Pitching has also seen its share of injuries as junior
Sutton Watson hasn't pitched since tossing 0.2 innings of relief vs. Towson.
Senior
Sara Allen is likely to get the call in the circle today as she tossed seven innings allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits in the Eagles 4-3 win at PC. Sophomore
Dallas King could get the nod as she allowed no runs on three hits with a walk and three strikeouts in 5.2 innings of relief in the second game of the doubleheader at PC last week. Allen is 7-6 on the year with a 3.30 ERA and 73 strikeouts to 41 walks in 87.1 innings. King is 4-3 with a 2.76 ERA and 21 strikeouts to seven walks in 42.1 innings.
Kersten Legacki leads the Blue Hose with a .357 average as she is third on the team with 18 runs and first with 24 RBI. Jill McLean leads the Blue Hose with 24 runs and is second on the team with a .338 average. Shelby Petik is batting .316 with 13 runs and second on the team with 22 RBI.
Legacki was 3-for-7 against the Eagles on Mar. 20 with two runs and three RBI while McLean and Petik were a combined 2-for-11.
PC uses a number of pitchers that could get the start on Wednesday as the likely candidate is Sydney Seigler, who has a team-high 12 starts and is 8-7 on the year with a 2.72 ERA and 57 strikeouts to 15 walks in 79.2 innings. She allowed four runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings against the Eagles on Mar. 20. Kensley Loudermelk had the most success against the Eagles in two relief appearances combining to allow no runs on six hits with a walk and five strikeouts in 5.2 innings.
Seigler suffered a loss in the opener of the Charleston Southern series and it was Katie Brown that earned the wins in the final two games of the series. The first came with a three-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory and then she tossed 4.2 innings of relief allowing no runs on two hits in the Blue Hose 2-0 victory. The pitching staff hasn't allowed a run in the last 14 innings and just eight hits (two for extra bases).
After taking the doubleheader last week, Winthrop now leads the all-time series against the Blue Hose, 10-9.
