ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop softball looks to get back on track when it hosts a doubleheader with UNC Wilmington at 4 p.m. Wednesday on Terry Field.
Winthrop is 8-11 on the year and looking to end a four-game skid as it takes on a UNCW team that is 12-6 on the year and winners of two of the last three games. This will mark the 28
th and 29
th meeting between the Eagles and Seahawks as Winthrop holds an 18-8-1 lead in the all-time series. The teams last met on Mar. 10, 2012 with the Eagles winning 2-0.
The Eagles put up 23 runs in the first three games of last weekend's tournament before running into a strong Kentucky pitching staff that held them scoreless in back-to-back games.
On the season the offense is averaging 4.3 runs per game and hitting .238 with 32 extra base hits. The offense is led by senior
Leah Young and sophomore
Megan Winningham. Young leads the team with 14 RBI and has already surpassed her career-high for home runs in a season with five. Her previous best came last season when she hit three and finished with a career-high 26 RBI. Young is hitting .255 and also leads the team in runs scored with 12 and holds a .397 on-base percentage. Winningham made her season debut nine games ago and has made a huge impact as she's hitting .407 with three runs, three home runs and 11 RBI (2
nd on the team). She blasted her first career grand slam this past weekend vs. Albany. Junior
Paige Haley is second on the team in hitting at .295 as her 10 runs are second on the team and she's been solid behind the plate. Freshman
Blake Wallert has batted .294 in 14 games (started all 14) as she's third on the team with nine runs.
Over the last five games, senior
Kim Ryder has been one of the top hitters at .500 with three runs in five games played (four starts).
Zharne Glover has also swung well in the last five games with a .300 average and two RBI.
Following its weekend of outscoring their opponents 29-15 in four games, the Eagles were outscored 35-23 in five games this past weekend. Senior
Dallas King is 4-4 on the year with a 5.00 ERA and has 40 strikeouts to 12 walks in 42.0 innings. Freshman
Kiley Majette is 3-5 with seven starts and made 13 appearances as she's struck out 33 and walked 25 in 49 innings.
Keleigh Romine has 11 appearances (three starts) and has 12 strikeouts and 21 walks in 18.1 innings.
The Seahawks are also scoring 4.3 runs per game, but allowing just 3.5 as they are led by a trio of pitchers in Haley Lenderman, Sarah Davis and Peyton Jordan. Lenderman has a team-best 1.63 with a 3-1 record and 21 strikeouts to 10 walks in 34.1 innings. Davis has tossed a team-high 41 innings and has a 4-2 mark with 40 strikeouts to 11 walks. Jordan is 4-1 on the year with a team-high 12 appearances (five starts) and 21 strikeouts to 11 walks in 34.1 innings.
Kali Jones leads the team in batting at .432 and is one of four players hitting .300 or better. Jones has a team-best 15 runs and is 8-for-8 on the bases. Merritt Wilkinson is the team leader in RBI with 11 as she's batting .275 with eight runs and four doubles. Hannah Adamczyk is second on the team with a .396 average and has seven runs and nine RBI.
The Seahawks are 0-2 against the Big South this year, having lost 6-3 and 4-3 to Radford last weekend. UNCW has played all 18 of its games this season at home so this will be the first road test.
