ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop softball welcomes Campbell to Terry Field this weekend for a three-game series that will begin with a doubleheader on Friday, Apr. 10 at 2 p.m. The series will wrap-up on Saturday at 1 p.m. Friday was originally schedule to start at 4 p.m. but has been moved up due to possible inclement weather.
The Eagles enter the series with the Fighting Camels at 16-22 overall and 5-8 in the league as it looks to climb toward the upper half of the conference standings. Campbell enters the weekend at 21-21 overall and 3-11 in the league.
Winthrop leads the series with Campbell 28-14 all-time and was 3-1 against the Camels last year that included a series win on the road. Winthrop had lost the previous seven meetings since the Camels rejoined the Big South.
This past Tuesday the Eagles split a doubleheader with Presbyterian College as it took the first game 4-3 and then fell 5-3 in five innings after the game was called due to rain and lightning.
Winthrop's offense came predominately from the top of the lineup against PC as the top five batters were a combined 9-for-25 with five runs and four RBI. Sophomore
Paige Haley broke out of a 1-for-17 slump by going 3-for-6 on the day with two runs while sophomore
Maddie Antone had two hits and two RBI as she extended her hitting streak to eight games. Haley bumped her average up to .312 while Antone is now batting .392.
Antone has been hit-by-a-pitch 10 times on the year, but five times in the last seven games. As a team the Eagles have been hit 10 times in the last seven games for a total of 27 on the year. That amount is currently the fourth most in the program's history for a single-season (record is 34 in 2007). Antone
Senior
Kelsey Ritter has been the Eagles most productive batter over the last 10 games as she's only batting .207 (.303 on-base percentage) in that span but has scored five runs with three home runs and eight RBI. On the season Ritter is batting .282 with 21 runs and is tied for the team lead in doubles while leading the team in home runs and RBI. The last two years Ritter is 5-for-12 with seven runs, four home runs and six RBI in five games against Campbell.
Over the last 10 games the Eagles have struggled at the plate, batting .176 over that stretch and scoring 2.5 runs per game while allowing 4.6 runs per game. The trio of
Sutton Watson,
Sara Allen and
Dallas King have a collective ERA of 3.86 during that span and have each thrown 20 or more innings.
Allen leads the staff in wins as she's 9-7 on the year with a 4.19 ERA with 70 strikeouts to 61 walks in 102 innings. Watson is 3-6 on the year with a 3.94 ERA with 61 strikeouts to 22 walks and four saves. Watson reached 300 strikeouts in her career against the Blue Hose on Tuesday, becoming the 8
th pitcher in school history to reach 300 strikeouts. King is 3-9 on the year with a team-best 3.18 ERA and 57 strikeouts to 29 walks in 72.2 innings. Any of the three could start this weekend as Allen and King have made four starts with Watson getting the other two in the last 10 games.
Campbell is coming off a doubleheader split on Wednesday against North Carolina A&T and has lost five of its last six league games. The Camels started league play with five straight on the road before playing their last nine at home.
Offensively the Camels are 3
rd in the Big South with a team batting average of .290 and third in the league with a 3.14 ERA. Their 31 home runs rank fourth in the Big South while they lead the conference in doubles with 56.
All-Big South Conference performer Ericka Nesbitt leads the team with a .440 average that leads the league and ranks among the Top 60 nationally. She is second on the team with 36 runs and is 13-for-15 on the bases. Stephanie Jones, also an All-Big South player, leads the team with 39 runs and is batting .350 with eight doubles, five home runs and 25 RBI. Leading the team in RBI with 34 is freshman Chandler Patterson, who is batting .276 and has a team-high 11 doubles. In 2012 Nesbitt was 10-for-14 with eight runs against the Eagles and in 2013 she was 6-for-10 with three runs and four stolen bases. She did not face the Eagles in 2014 as she was injured.
The pitching staff is led by the duo of Julia Callicut and Katie Baker, who have combined to throw 260 of the team's 285.2. Callicut has a team-best 2.53 ERA and is 10-6 on the year with 117 strikeouts to 75 walks. Baker is 10-12 on the year with a 2.93 ERA and 151 strikeouts to 42 walks.
