ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop softball begins Big South Conference play when it hosts Longwood for a three-game series this weekend beginning Friday, Mar. 20 at Terry Field.
The Eagles (11-14) will open up with a single-game on Friday at 6 p.m. and then face the Lancers in a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. The first and third game of the series will be available on the Big South Network while the first game on Saturday will be aired on ESPN3.
In its final tune-up before the start of league play the Eagles dropped a close game on Wednesday to South Carolina, which received votes in both national polls. The Eagles fell 3-2 behind solid pitching performances from senior's
Sutton Watson and
Sara Allen.
Winthrop is 5-5 in the last 10 Big South openers and has lost its last four league openers/series at home. The Eagles will face a Longwood team that is coming off a series win at home over preseason Big South favorite Coastal Carolina. Longwood is 8-14 on the year and 2-1 in the Big South.
The Eagles and Lancers have met 10 times with Longwood holding a 6-4 lead in the all-time series and winners of the last three meetings.
Maddie Antone leads the Eagles with a .388 batting average as well as runs (23) and RBI (20) but the hottest batter in the last 15 games is sophomore
Paige Haley. The second-year catcher took over the duties as the leadoff batter against Auburn on Feb. 15 and in the 15 games since she's hitting .404 with 11 runs, three extra base hits and five RBI with an on-base percentage of .472. She currently has a team-high five-game hitting streak.
K.J. Uyeno, who missed the first few weeks with an injury, is batting .333 over the last 15 games with eight runs and an on-base percentage of .621.
Over that stretch the Eagles have averaged 4.3 runs while allowing 3.1. The pitching has been solid with a team ERA of 2.52 led by junior
Dallas King, who has missed the last few games with an injury and is questionable to return this weekend. King has a 1-3 record in her last eight appearances with a 0.67 ERA and 30 strikeouts to five walks in 31.1 innings. Watson is 2-2 in her last seven appearances with a 2.46 ERA and 19 strikeouts to seven walks over 31.1 innings. Allen is 3-3 in her last 11 starts with a 4.03 ERA and 23 strikeouts to 10 walks in 33 innings.
Last year Antone led the Eagles in league play with an average of .426 with 12 runs, four doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI (24 games) batting seventh in the lineup. Sophomore
Megan Winningham, who is out for the season, led the team with 20 RBI in league play.
Longwood is led by Big South Conference Player of the Year candidate Megan Baltzell. The senior catcher is batting a team-high .339 with 22 runs, eight home runs and 20 RBI. Justina Augustine is second on the team with a .302 average and 11 runs. The team is batting .250 on the year and averaging 4.4 runs per game.
The pitching staff is led by Elizabeth McCarthy with a 5-6 record and team-best 4.24 ERA. Libby Morris is 3-5 on the year with a 5.28 ERA.
The Lancers have won six of their last eight games and in addition to the two wins over Coastal they've defeated No. 25 North Carolina State and Fordham.
