ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop softball opened up the Big South Conference Tournament with an 8-5 victory over eighth-seeded Gardner-Webb before falling 13-5 to top-seeded Longwood.
The Eagles will face fourth-seeded Radford Thursday morning at 9 a.m. in an elimination game. That game will air on the Big South Network. Winthrop is now 15-42 on the year while Gardner-Webb's season ended at 21-33 and Longwood improved to 34-17.
"The day started out good as we hit the ball well against Gardner-Webb to get into the tournament," said Winthrop co-head coach
Mark Cooke. "The last game we jumped on Longwood first but we just couldn't keep from walking batters. They had six runs on three hits and you can't beat a good team like that. Then they opened up a can of home runs and that put it away for them. Tomorrow we just have to come out and regroup and play like we did the first game today."
The Eagles jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the second inning.
Zharne Glover singled to lead things off and
Blake Wallert attempted to sacrifice Glover to second but Elizabeth McCarthy fielded the ball and her throw to first sailed into foul territory. Glover came all around to score from first and Wallert ended up at third.
Tara Loken stepped in and singled down the left field line to score Wallert for a 2-0 lead. With the bases loaded,
Morgan Lowers laced a double to left center for a 4-0 lead. The fifth run came when
Paige Haley scored from third on a passed ball.
The Lancers chipped away at the Winthrop lead over the next few innings before posting five in the bottom of the fourth inning to take an 8-5 lead. A big part of the rally was senior Emily Murphy, who came through with a two-run home run to cut the deficit to 5-3 and then belted another two-run homerun to cap off the five-run inning. Longwood tacked on two more runs in the sixth highlighted by a Murphy RBI double for a 9-5 lead for her fifth RBI of the day.
Keleigh Romine started the game and allowed four runs on one hit with five walks and a strikeout in three innings but it was
Kiley Majette that suffered the loss after allowing nine runs on eight hits to fall to 7-19. McCarthy, who was named the Big South Conference Pitcher of the Year, allowed five runs (two earned) on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 1.1 innings. Sydney Gay tossed 4.2 innings of relief allowing just one run while striking out eight to earn the win and improve to 15-6.
Lowers finished with two hits and two RBI in the game while Loken finished with a run and RBI.
In the first game of the day, Winthrop used a five-run third and a three-run fourth to build an 8-3 advantage. It all started with
Paige Haley leading off the third with a walk and then Lowers reaching on an error that put runners at the corners.
Shayna Covington reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases. The first run crossed the plate on a passed ball as Haley crossed home plate, Lowers moved to third and Covington to second.
Leah Young loaded the bases when she walked and Glover stepped in and delivered a single to right for a 2-0 lead. Wallert opened the game up as she stepped in and ripped a shot to left center, clearing the bases for a 5-0 advantage.
After Gardner-Webb got three back in the bottom half of the third to make it a two-run game, Winthrop responded with three more runs. Lowers started it off with a one-out single down the line and moved to second as the left fielder misplayed the ball. Covington looped one down the left field line and hustled to second for an RBI double and a 6-3 lead. Glover came through with an RBI double followed by an RBI single down the right field line by Wallert to increase the lead to 8-3. Winthrop tacked on another run in the fifth on an RBI single by Covington.
Gardner-Webb's comeback effort in the bottom of the seventh saw Scarlett Harris hit a two-run home run with no outs and then Gardner-Webb loaded the bases but
Chace Helms came in to get the final out for the four-run win and her first career save.
Romine tossed 4.0 relief innings allowing two runs on four hits with four walks and four strikeouts as she earned the win and improved to 3-9. Mackenzie Thompson took the loss for the Runnin' Bulldogs as she allowed five runs (three earned) on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts and finishes the season at 11-13.
Wallert's four RBI were a career-high while Covington tied her career-high of three hits. Haley extended her streak of reaching base to nine games after both contests and also reached 100 career hits with a single in the seventh inning against Gardner-Webb. Glover tied her career-best of three hits against the Runnin' Bulldogs.
With the win over Gardner-Webb, Cooke became the first coach in the Big South to ever reach 50 career wins in Big South Tournament history and co-head coach Kendal Fuller earned her first Big South Tournament win.
