ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop softball earned a doubleheader split with UNC Wilmington getting a 3-2 win in the first game before dropping the nightcap 5-4 in eight innings, Wednesday evening at Terry Field.

Winthrop is now 9-12 on the year as it heads to Clearwater, FL this weekend for the Under Armour Showcase hosted by the University of South Florida. The Eagles will open play on Friday against Fairfield at 4:30 p.m. and then face Hartford at 6:45 p.m. UNCW falls to 13-7 on the year with the split.

The win in the first game of the doubleheader gave Co-Head Coach Mark Cooke his 800^th career win.  

"That first game, wow, I needed that one so bad," said Cooke, referring to his milestone victory. "It's been on my mind because it's all I hear so happy to get it out of the way. First thing is all the glory goes to god for giving me this opportunity at this great place. I've had so many great players, so many great kids come through this program that got me there. I didn't get a single base hit, they took care of that. I've been blessed to have some truly great kids each year and that's exciting to me. Kendall (Fuller) and I as well as Cari (Moore) were on the same page, we were all worried about winning, they didn't even know. That's what it should be, it should be about the kids and the game. I'd also like to give a special thanks to Danny Parks for being part of probably over 500 of the wins."

In the first game of the doubleheader Leah Young gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when she tripled to left center, scoring Paige Haley from second. Haley singled off the pitchers outstretched glove to reach first and then stole second before coming around to score on Young's triple.

Winthrop loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the third and were able to get two more runs across for a 3-0 lead. Young recorded her second RBI of the day when she was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 2-0. Tara Loken made it 3-0 when she grounded into a fielder's choice as UNCW got the out at second base while Haley came across home plate.

In the top of the fourth the Seahawks cut the Eagles lead to one run when Claudia Spinelli singled down the right field line, scoring runners at second and third.

Freshman Kiley Majette tossed a complete game allowing two runs on seven hits with five walks and two strikeouts to earn her fourth win of the season (4-5). UNCW's Sarah Davis also tossed a complete game in a losing effort with three runs allowed on five hits with two walks and eight strikeouts to fall to 4-3.

In the nightcap, the teams went to extra innings using the international tie-breaker. Winthrop looked as if it might escape without giving up a run, but a fielding error with two outs allowed a run to score and then the Seahawks added one more for a 5-3 lead.

Winthrop did battled back to within a run and had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth. With pinch-runner Brooke Ellison placed on second, the Eagles got things going as K.J. Uyeno singled up the middle to put runners at the corners. After Loken sacrificed Uyeno to put runners at 2^nd and 3^rd with one out, Toni Pancione made it a one-run game with an RBI groundout to second but stranded Uyeno at third to end the game.

The storyline of the second game was the relief pitching performance of freshman Chace Helms. Up until Tuesday, Helms was going to redshirt this season after beginning her college career in January. But with the injury to starting pitcher Dallas King, Cooke decided he needed another arm.

Helms came in with one out in the third inning and runners at first and second. Helms got out of the jam and tossed the final 5.2 innings allowing one earned run on six hits with no walks and a strikeout but suffered the loss.

"I thought we played extremely well in the second game," said Cooke. "We gave them runs in extras on errors but they didn't quit. They came in and got one back and had the opportunity to get the other one back. Chace did an outstanding job. She could have gone out there and folded and been scared to death but she showed she's a gamer."

The Seahawks took the lead right away in the second game with two runs in the 2^nd thanks to a two-run home run by Darian Roberts as she took a 2-0 pitch to left center. Winthrop quickly answered in the bottom of the inning. Blake Wallert cut the deficit in half with an RBI single and then Haley was hit with the bases loaded to tie the game.

UNCW regained the lead 3-2 in the top of the fifth when Spinelli grounded to second base with runners at the corners. Haley Zuehlke fielded the ball, tagged the runner heading to 2^nd and then threw to first just missing a double play to end the inning by a half step or less and the runner came home from third to take the lead.

It didn't take long for the Eagles to answer as Haley led off the bottom of the fifth with a triple down the right field line and then scored when Young grounded out to second.