ROCK HILL, SC—Coming off a doubleheader sweep in their home opener, the Winthrop softball team gets back on the road and looks to carry its momentum into the weekend as it heads to Columbia, SC for the Carolina Classic.
Winthrop (2-4) will open play on Saturday at 3 p.m. against UNC Greensboro followed by a 5:30 p.m. matchup with fellow Big South member Longwood. The team will wrap-up play on Sunday with a 10 a.m. game against Ohio and complete the weekend against the host South Carolina Gamecocks at 3 p.m. on the SEC Network-plus.
After opening the season 0-4 the Eagles got two needed victories to turn things back in the right direction heading into this weekend. Redshirt junior
Leah Young provided the spark to the offense on Thursday with two home runs on the day and six RBI. Young is now batting .214 on the year with four runs and six RBI. Freshman
Blake Wallert leads all every day players with a .333 average as she's also tied with Young for the team lead in runs with four.
The strength of the two wins on Thursday was starting pitching as senior
Dallas King and freshman
Kiley Majette turned in two solid performances. King tossed 6.1 innings allowing no runs on one hit with a walk and a career-best 12 strikeouts. Majette threw seven innings allowing one run on two hits with a walk and a career-best nine strikeouts.
UNC GREENSBOROThe Spartans are off to a 4-1 start and will begin action at the Carolina Classic on Friday against Longwood and South Carolina. Lindsay Thomas was named the SoCON Player of the Week after batting .647 with eight runs and three extra-base hits. Stephanie Bryden is 3-0 in the circle with a 5.49 ERA with 17 strikeouts and eight walks in 19.2 innings. Thomas leads the team in batting at .647 followed by Nicole Thomas at .625 as she also leads the team with 12 RBI. Winthrop is 10-16 all-time against the Spartans.
LONGWOODThe Lancers start the Carolina Classic on Friday as well, facing Ohio and UNCG. Longwood was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the Big South Conference. The defending Big South champions were 34-25 last season. Leading the way in the circle for the Lancers is junior Elizabeth McCarthy, the preseason Big South Pitcher of the Year, as she is a two-time 20-game winner. The Eagles are 5-8 against Longwood.
OHIOThis will be the first action as well for the Bobcats as they are coming off a 15-32 season. Ohio returns four starters that played in 40 or more games last season in Sloan Walker, Casie Hutchinson, Amanda Dalton and Mikayla Cooper. Walker batted .336 while Cooper hit .258 and had a .387 on-base percentage. Savannah Jo Dorsey is the top pitcher as she recorded 25 wins as a freshman and had 298 strikeouts in 268.1 innings. Winthrop and Ohio have played four times with each team winning twice.
SOUTH CAROLINAThe Gamecocks are coming off a season in which they earned an at-large bid to an NCAA Regional. South Carolina is already off to a 4-1 start with wins over South Florida, Illinois State and North Carolina. This season Ansley Ard leads the team in batting at .556 while Kenzi Maguire is next at .538 with three runs and three RBI. Jessica Elliot has started three games and made five appearances in the circle as she's 3-0 with a 1.43 ERA and nine strikeouts to eight walks in 14.2 innings. Nickie Blue has the most innings pitched at 15 as she's made two starts and appeared in all five games as she's 1-1 with a 2.8 ERA and 15 strikeouts to six walks. The Gamecocks lead the all-time series 53-10-1.
