ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop softball earned a doubleheader sweep of Liberty Friday evening as it rallied to win 6-3 in game one and 11-7 in the nightcap.
The Eagles have won five straight and 8-of-9 to improve to 24-23 overall and 13-9 in the Big South. Liberty's overall record evens up at 27-27 while it is now 12-11 in the league. Winthrop will have an opportunity for a sweep on Saturday as the start time has been moved from noon to 6 p.m. to try and avoid the forecast of rain.
"First game I thought when we went ahead and Sutton came in to close the door it was really a solid game for us," said Winthrop head coach
Mark Cooke, who now has 790 career wins. "We kept hitting the ball, driving in runs and with different people doing it. In the second game they led early and then we'd get up and they'd come back. All I can say is when you outscore a team like that, you're happy. I think it's a tribute to our kids who continue swing the bat and drive in runs. I thought we had two solid games from all of our players. I'm real proud of the way we played today."
Winthrop trailed 5-2 in the nightcap before scoring seven runs in the bottom of the fourth as it held on for the 11-7 win.
The big inning for the Eagles was highlighted by a three-run pinch-hit home run from freshman
Jessica Roth, the first of her collegiate career. Then as the Eagles batted around
Kelsey Ritter supplied an RBI double and
Leah Young drove in a run as she beat out a chopper at short for an infield hit. All seven runs in the inning came with two outs.
Liberty took a 5-2 lead after three innings after Winthrop had tied the game in the bottom of the second at 2-2. The Eagles did so on a
Shayna Covington two-run double to left center with two outs. The first two runs for the Flames in the third came on an error by second baseman
Kristy Noble as Alexia Taylor and Kelby Allen scored. Then Kassidy McCoy came through with an RBI single.
The Flames cut the Eagles lead in half in the top of the sixth inning, but the Eagles came right back with two more runs in the bottom of the inning as
Tara Loken and Shayne Covington each drew a bases loaded walk for the 11-7 advantage.
Watson, who earned the win in game one, tossed 4.2 innings of relief allowing three unearned runs on six hits with two walks to improve to 8-6.
Chandler Ball, who suffered the loss in game one, took the loss in relief of the second game after allowing five unearned runs with a walk in 0.1 innings of work as she's now 19-10 on the year.
In the first game the Eagles used a three-run sixth inning to earn the win as Ritter highlighted the inning with a one-out solo home run to left for a 4-3 lead. It was the ninth of the season for Ritter, who set a new career-high for home runs in a single-season. Young followed with a triple to right center and then scored on a single to right by
Haley Zuehlke. Loken made it 6-3 later in the inning when she scored on a fielding error.
Winthrop trailed 2-0 after two innings as Liberty after an RBI ground out from McCoy and an RBI single from Jessica Cicerchia as she squeezed one through the hole at first.
Maddie Antone put the Eagles in the lead 3-2 in the bottom of the third inning as she hammered a home run to center field for a three-run shot. Covington led off the inning with an infield single and then with two outs
K.J. Uyeno walked to bring up Antone.
Watson earned the win after tossing three innings of relief as she didn't allow a hit or a run while striking out four and walking two.
Sara Allen started the game but didn't factor in the decision after allowing three runs on four hits with four walks and two strikeouts.
Ball suffered the loss in the circle for Liberty as allowed six runs on eight hits with a walk and four strikeouts.
On the day, Covington and Young each had four hits while Covington had three RBI and Young had three runs. Ritter finished the day 3-for-7 with two runs and two RBI. Uyeno extended her team-best streak of reaching base to 13 straight.
