ROCK HILL, SC—Senior's Sara Allen and Sutton Watson combined on a four-hit shutout to lead Winthrop to a 3-0 victory for a series sweep of Liberty, Sunday afternoon at Terry Field.

Allen started the game and allowed just two hits with six walks and eight strikeouts in five innings before Watson took over in the sixth and allowed two hits with two strikeouts in the final two innings. Watson earned the win as she is now 9-6.

The victory pushes the Eagles record to 25-23 overall and they finish their Big South Conference schedule at 14-9. Winthrop has now won six straight and 9-of-10 as it will wrap-up its regular season on Tuesday, Apr. 28 with a doubleheader at Charlotte starting at 3:30 p.m.

"It was great to get a sweep the last weekend of the season and sending the seniors out in style," said Winthrop head coach Mark Cooke. "Going 3-0 against Liberty, who was ahead of us in the standings, is big. We've been playing really good and I think that the team is starting to gel. The last two weeks we've started to get our kids healthy and everybody's starting to hit the ball again. It's a quality win and we've very happy."

The Eagles and Flames were locked in a pitcher's duel into the sixth inning when sophomore Maddie Antone got the first big hit for either team when she drove the first pitch she saw over the fence in right center for a two-run home run. Freshman Tara Loken made it 3-0 three batters later when she drove a ball to left center, scoring pinch-runner Madison Templeton.

One of the Flames best opportunities to get on the scoreboard came in the fifth inning when they loaded the bases with two outs, but Allen got a ground out to short on a 1-2 pitch to end the inning. Liberty threatened in the second inning as the first two runners reached base, but Allen struck out the next three batters to end the inning.

Abby Tincher took the loss for Liberty after allowing three runs (one earned) on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in six innings of work.

Since starting league play 1-5, the Eagles are 14-4 and secured a finish in the top four of the league standings.