ROCK HILL, SC—Winners of three straight and six of the last seven, Winthrop softball will host Liberty in a three-game series this weekend that starts Friday with a doubleheader at 5 p.m. The series will wrap-up on Saturday with "Senior Day" as the first pitch is scheduled for noon.
This is the final Big South Conference series for the Eagles, who have a chance to claim their fourth regular season series in league play. The Eagles have taken series from Gardner-Webb, Presbyterian College and Campbell while dropping series to Coastal Carolina, Longwood and Charleston Southern. All three games of the series with the Flames will air on the Big South Network.
Despite winning six of their last seven, Winthrop has moved up just one slot in the league standings with a 22-23 overall record and 11-9 league mark. The Eagles are tied with Charleston Southern in fifth with the same conference record and are just one win behind Liberty, who is sitting in third.
For an opportunity to position themselves into a possible Top 4 finish in the league standings, the Eagles will have to win the series with Liberty.
During the team's stretch of six wins in seven games, the offense has been driving in runs at an average of 5.3 runs per game. That includes the one loss in which the Eagles had just one run on one hit at Radford. The team is making the most of its opportunities as it and coming through in the clutch as 22 of the team's runs during that span have come with two outs. Four of the wins have come in the team's final at-bat.
Kelsey Ritter hit a walk-off home run in the seventh to beat Campbell 5-4 in the opening game of that series and then in game two
K.J. Uyeno provided a two-run walk-off single for a 4-3 victory over the Camels.
Leah Young's two-run home run gave Winthrop a 7-5 win in nine innings at Radford after the Eagles had tied the game with two runs in the seventh. And then this past week with the six-run seventh inning to defeated Presbyterian College 8-7.
Young has been on a tear for the Eagles at the plate as she's now driven in multiple runs in three straight games for a total of seven in the last three with six of those coming with two outs. Young is now batting .261 on the year with 27 runs and 25 RBI.
Maddie Antone continues to lead the team in batting average (.374) and runs (36). Her average is a bit down since returning from injury 14 games ago as she's hitting .343 in that span but her on-base percentage is higher at .547 during those games. She's walked nine times over the last 14 games and been hit eight times and has scored 13 times. While the team is batting just .222 since her return, her presence has made an impact as the team is 10-4 in that stretch. Last year Antone was 6-for-10 with two runs, three RBI against Liberty.
Noble has not started during this recent seven-game stretch for the Eagles but has come through at the plate when called upon, going 3-for-6 with four RBI.
Haley Zuehlke replaced Antone at shortstop in her absence but then moved over to second when she returned and has been very solid at the plate. Zuehlke is batting .353 with two runs, a home run and five RBI in the last seven games and .281 over the last 14.
During the seven-game stretch the Eagles have received strong pitching as a collective group as
Sutton Watson,
Sara Allen and
Dallas King have posted a 3.50 ERA. Watson is 3-0 with all three wins in relief as she's struck 18 and walked two in 20.1 innings of work. Allen is 1-1 with 12 strikeouts in 12.1 innings while King is 2-0 with 12 strikeouts to three walks in 17.1 innings. All three will see action against Liberty, with the possibility of all three making starts. Last season Allen earned two wins against the Flames as she allowed four runs on 10 hits with three walks and four strikeouts in 12 innings of work.
Winthrop and Liberty have met 76 times with the Eagles holding a 36-30 advantage in the all-time series. The Eagles captured the series last year on the road, winning two of the three games. The Eagles have won three straight series against Liberty since 2011 when the Eagles were 2-3 against the Flames.
Liberty enters the game at 27-25 overall and 12-9 in the league and is also on a streak in which its won 5-of-6 and 6-of-8 games. The Flames are coming off a non-conference doubleheader Wednesday in which they split with the University of Virginia at home.
The Flames are averaging 4.0 runs per game on the season while allowing 4.6. In league play the Flames are coming off a series win over Coastal Carolina. Liberty has earned series wins over Gardner-Webb, Campbell, Presbyterian College, Radford and Charleston Southern as well.
Over the season the Flames offense has been extremely balanced with nine players with at least 10 RBI and eight of them with 15 or more. Kelby Allen leads the team with 26 RBI as she's second on the team with 32 runs and is batting .323. Alexia Taylor leads the team with a .343 batting average and is second on the team with 25 RBI. Tori Zavodny leads the team with 35 runs as the freshman possesses power with seven doubles and seven home runs as well as speed with 21 stolen bases.
Chandler Ball and Kenzie Friesen have done the majority of the work in the pitching circle for the Flames. Ball is 19-8 on the year with a 3.14 ERA with 121 strikeouts to 92 walks in 187 innings. Friesen is 6-11 with a 3.83 ERA with 61 strikeouts and 58 walks in 106 innings.
