ROCK HILL, SC—The Big South Conference regular season came to an end Sunday afternoon and the seeds for next week's championship were announced by the league office as Winthrop will be the #5 seed and take on fourth-seeded Campbell on Thursday at noon.
The 2014 Big South Softball Championship presented by Musco Sports Lighting will take place on the campus of Coastal Carolina in Conway, SC starting on Thursday, May 8 and will run through Sunday, May 11.
Winthrop with an overall record of 26-24 and a league mark of 12-12 as it will be the fifth seed for the second straight season as it looks for a return trip to the tournament championship game. Winthrop is 9-7 all-time as the 5
th seed in the Big South Tourney. Winthrop is 1-1 all-time versus Campbell in the conference tournament and before the Eagles two wins in Buies Creek in early April, Campbell had won nine straight over Winthrop.
This tournament could continue a record breaking season for head coach
Mark Cooke as the win in tournament play will give him the most in Big South history. Earlier this season Cooke became the Big South's all-time leader in victories.
The Eagles, much like they did in 2013, enter the tournament on a losing streak after getting swept at home by Coastal Carolina. Prior to the series loss to the Chanticleers, Winthrop had won seven of nine games.
Several players lead the Eagles offensively as senior
McKenzi Corn boasts the top batting average of .401. She has reached base in 15 straight games against Big South competition and is looking to become the fourth player in school history to bat .400 or better in multiple seasons.
Two more seniors are a big part of the offense as
Mel Andrea and
Alex White are enjoying some career-bests at the plate. Andrea, who leads the country in grand slams with four this season, is batting .294 and has a team-high 38 RBI as she aims to become the 11
th player in school history to reach 40 RBI in a single-season. White is batting .292 with 17 runs, 13 doubles, four home runs and is second on the team with 29 RBI.
Freshmen
Maddie Antone and
Megan Winningham will participate in their first conference tournament as both have played major roles in Winthrop's offense this season. About one-fourth of the way into the season both Antone and Winningham became every day starters and helped provide a well balanced offense throughout the lineup. Antone is second on the team with a .374 average and has 20 runs, seven home runs and 21 RBI while Winningham is batting .294 with 18 runs and 26 RBI. Also in her first season is freshman catcher
Paige Haley who earned the starting role behind the plate a few weeks into the season. Haley is batting .170 with 13 runs and eight RBI but has been strong behind the plate having thrown out seven runners and posting a .991 fielding percentage with just two errors in 45 games played.
The pitching staff has been banged up but the Eagles are expected to use the trio of senior
Sara Allen, junior
Sutton Watson and sophomore
Dallas King. Allen is 12-11 with a 3.36 ERA and has 27 starts on the year while Watson is 9-7 with a 3.74 ERA and King is 5-4 with a 2.91 ERA.
Campbell finished the season 29-25 overall and 13-10 in the Big South after taking a 2-1 series at Charleston Southern over the weekend. Winthrop took the regular season series at Campbell Apr. 4-5 after dropping the series opener 8-0 in five innings and bouncing back to win game two 14-10 and the finale 7-2.
After dropping the series with Winthrop, the Fighting Camels lost three straight but have finished the season winning six of the last eight games.
Campbell features a couple of the top offensive players in the Big South in Milly Martinet and Courtney Klingler. Martinet has been one of the top freshmen in the league with a .315 average to go along with 15 home runs and 43 RBI. Klingler has 31 runs, 12 home runs and 28 RBI on the year.
Winthrop is likely to face Courtney Roberts in the pitching circle as she tossed a five-inning complete game shutout against the Eagles in the series opener on April 4. Roberts is 9-8 on the year with a 2.61 ERA and nine complete games. Freshman Katie Baker has been the top pitcher on the staff with a 13-10 record with an ERA of 2.59 with 11 complete games.
Thursday, May 8Game 1: No. 8 Gardner-Webb vs. No. 9 Liberty, 9:00am (single elimination)
Game 2: No. 4 Campbell vs. No. 5 Winthrop, 12:00pm
Game 3: No. 1 Coastal Carolina vs. GWU/LU, 2:30pm
Game 4: No. 2 Longwood vs. No. 7 Charleston Southern, 5:00pm
Game 5: No. 3 Radford vs. No. 6 Presbyterian College, 7:30pm
Friday, May 9Game 6: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3, 9:00am
Game 7: Loser Game 4 vs. Loser Game 5, 11:30am
Game 8: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 2:00pm
Game 9: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 4:30pm
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 7:00pm
Game 11: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 9, 9:30pm
Saturday, May 10Game 12: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 12:00am (TV: ESPN3)
Game 13: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 11, 2:30pm (TV: ESPN3)
Game 14: if necessary, 5:00pm ** (TV: ESPN3)
Game 15: if necessary, 7:30pm ** (TV: ESPN3)
Sunday, May 11Championship Game: TBA vs. TBA, 12:00pm (TV: ESPNU)
Schedule subject to change.
** - Game 14 will be necessary if the winner of Game 10 defeats the winner of Game 9. Game 15 will be necessary if the winner of Game 11 defeats the winner of Game 8. If both games are played, they will both be played on Saturday.
