ATHENS, GA— Winthrop softball opened the season with an 11-6 win over East Carolina before falling 8-0 at #10/12 Georgia, Friday afternoon at the Red & Black Showcase.
The Eagles are 1-1 and will be back in action on Saturday as they will face East Carolina at 10 a.m. and then Syracuse at 5:30 p.m.
Against East Carolina the game was tied 2-2 after three innings as Winthrop posted four runs in the fourth inning while adding insurance with a run in the fifth and four more in the seventh.
The Eagles loaded the bases with one out in the top of the 4
th as
Paige Haley drew a walk for an RBI and a 3-2 lead.
Shayna Covington followed with a single to center, scoring
Morgan Lowers for a 4-2 lead.
Maddie Antone stepped in and made it 6-2 with a two-run single to center.
Antone added a three-run home run to highlight a four-run seventh for an 11-3 lead.
Tara Loken led off with a walk and was moved to second on a sacrifice by
A.G. Gardner as Haley stepped in and singled to left for her third RBI of the afternoon. Covington walked and then two batters later Antone hit one over the center field fence.
"The biggest thing from today is we played really good," said co-head coach
Mark Cooke. "We had one bad inning all day and in that game against Georgia we settled back in after that and played well. I felt Keleigh threw a great ball game and I think our pitching as a whole got better today. We had a good day and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
Antone tied her career-best with three hits and drove in a career-high six. Haley also finished with three hits and a career-high three RBI. Convington and Lowers each had two hits.
Sophomore
Keleigh Romine tossed six innings allowing three runs on two hits as she earned the win in the circle. Freshman
Madyson Watson saw her first collegiate action in the circle allowing three runs on two hits in an inning. East Carolina's Mary Williams took the loss after allowing seven runs on seven hits.
In the loss to Georgia, the Eagles ran into some trouble in the third inning after the game was scoreless through the first two. It started with a one-out error, which put a runner at second, and the next batter made the Eagles pay on an RBI single from Sydni Emmanuel for a 1-0 lead. Georgia used three more base hits and took advantage of three errors in the inning for a 5-0 lead after three.
Kiley Majette took the loss as she allowed five runs on five hits in 2.1 innings while freshman
Sabrina Shroades saw her first collegiate action with 1.2 innings allowing three runs on five hits. Georgia's Brittany Gray tossed four innings allowing two hits, walking two and striking out six.
