WINTHROP SCHEDULE AT RED & BLACK SHOWCASE

Winthrop vs. East Carolina	Friday, Feb. 10, 12:30 p.m.	Live Stats
Winthrop at 10/12 Georgia	Friday, Feb. 10, 3 p.m.	Watch / Live Stats
Winthrop vs. East Carolina	Saturday, Feb. 11, 10 a.m.	Live Stats
Winthrop vs. Syracuse	Saturday, Feb. 11, 5:30 p.m.	Live Stats
Winthrop vs. Syracuse	Sunday, Feb. 12, 10:30 a.m.	Live Stats

2017 Season Outlook
ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop softball heads to Athens, GA for the 10^th Red & Black Showcase as it faces East Carolina and 10^th-ranked Georgia, Friday afternoon in the season opener. The Eagles will open up at 12:30 p.m. against ECU followed by a 3 p.m. showdown with Georgia.

SEASON OPENERS
Winthrop has won four of its last six season openers. All-time the Eagles are 27-16 all-time in season openers and 16-11 during Mark Cooke's tenure as head coach.
 
RED & BLACK SHOWCASE
This is the 10^th season for the annual Red & Black Showcase hosted by the University of Georgia. It is a tournament that gives the Eagles a competitive schedule to open up the season and test the team right away. The Eagles have been going to Athens, GA for 10 straight years in the early part of the season. This is the 5^th straight year the Eagles are opening the season at the Red & Black Showcase while they participated in the Annual Georgia Softball Classic the five seasons before that, which takes place the second weekend of the season.

ANTONE'S RETURN WILL STRENGTHEN LINEUP
Redshirt-junior Maddie Antone returns to the Eagles this season after missing the entire 2016 slate. Antone was the 2014 Big South Conference Freshman of the Year and has a career batting average of .367 with 63 runs, 88 hits, 15 doubles, 14 home runs and 58 RBI with an on-base percentage of .474. Her bat in the lineup will instantly create a stronger lineup as protection to Leah Young or whoever bats in front of her. Young emerged as the premier batter on the team in 2016 as she set career-highs with 31 runs, 43 hits, five doubles, nine home runs, 34 RBI and a .277 average. Sophomore Morgan Lowers batted in the leadoff spot for most of 2016 as she finished with a team-best 298 average and finished with 21 runs, nine doubles and 16 RBI. Add in senior Paige Haley, who has totaled 45 runs, nine doubles, 82 hits and 24 RBI, that has batted anywhere from the top of the order to the bottom of the order the last two seasons. Last season she had a career-high .358 on-base percentage.

EAGLES WILL RELY ON YOUTH ONCE AGAIN
Winthrop will have 11 underclassmen on this year's roster, which makes up 65% of the roster. Only 13 other team's in the country have a roster of underclassmen that make up a higher percentage than that. Last year the Eagles had 13 underclassmen, which only six programs had more than 13. The pitching staff is made up entirely of underclassmen with sophomore's Kiley Majette and Keleigh Romine as the likely starters along with freshmen Sabrina Shroades and Madyson Watson. Winthrop could possibly start freshmen Ansley Gilreath and Ashley Westbrooks while sophomore's Blake Wallert and Morgan Lowers will be in the starting lineup.

SERIES HISTORY WITH EAST CAROLINA
The Pirates were 23-31 last season and finished sixth in the American Conference. Last year ECU finished with a 13-6 record in neutral site contests. The Pirates return 13 players including 10 field players and all four pitchers. The team's top batter from last season returns as Karlie Smith batted .323 with 18 runs, nine doubles, four home runs and 17 RBI. Ali Ramirez finished fourth on the team with a .282 average with 19 runs, seven doubles, four home runs and 13 RBI. Lydia Ritchie is the top returning pitcher after tossing a team-high 173.1 innings while holding a record of 13-12. She posted an ERA of 2.67 with 178 strikeouts to 73 walks. Mary Williams was second on the team with starts (16) and innings pitched (122.0) as she was 5-14 with an ERA of 6.14 with 82 strikeouts and 88 walks. The Eagles are 1-15 all-time against ECU, who spent four seasons in the Big South (1996-99) and captured three regular season titles and a tournament championship in 1999.     

SERIES HISTORY GEORGIA
The Bulldogs are coming off another College World Series appearance as they were one of four SEC schools to make the CWS. Georgia finished the 2016 season with a 46-20 mark. This year the Bulldogs are tied for the 3^rd most underclassmen, which make up 65% of their roster. Despite a large number of underclassmen, Georgia returns three of its top batters. Sydni Emmanuel batted .441 with 48 runs, 16 RBI and 14 stolen bases last season. Her younger sister Cortni Emmanuel batted .404 with 56 runs, 20 RBI and had 33 stolen bases. Alyssa DiCarlo batted .371 with 43 runs, 16 doubles, 11 home runs and 63 RBI. The Bulldogs did lose their best pitcher in Chelsea Wilkinson, who was 28-9 with an ERA of 1.93 and had 219 strikeouts to 55 walks in 232.0 innings pitched. Brittany Gray is the top returner in the circle after going 11-9 with a 3.21 ERA and 128 strikeouts to 52 walks in 111.1 innings. Winthrop is 2-21 all-time against the Bulldogs.
 
SERIES HISTORY SYRACUSE
Syracuse finished the 2016 season with a 27-26 mark and finished 7^th among the 11 teams that compete in the ACC. The Orange return three of the top four batters from last season led by Sammy Fernandez, who hit 324 with 29 runs, nine doubles, four triples and 17 RBI. Alsyssa Dewes batted .305 with 22 runs, four home runs, and 12 RBI while Sydney O'Hara batted .272 with 18 runs, five doubles, six home runs and 29 RBI. The team's top pitcher from a year ago was AnnaMarie Gatti as she returns after going 12-14 with an ERA of 3.38 and 91 strikeouts to 58 walks in 157 innings. O'Hara also pitched last year and is the only other pitcher returning after going 3-2 with an ERA of 1.89 and 76 strikeouts to 37 walks in 62 innings. This will be just the second meeting against Syracuse as the Eagles dropped the only other meeting 8-5 in the Buzz Classic on Mar. 5, 2006.

BIG SOUTH PRESEASON POLL
Winthrop is picked to finish seventh in the Big South Conference preseason poll, but has expectations of being toward the top of the league. With the addition of Antone and the consistency of Paige Haley through her career at the plate along with the emergence of Leah Young, Morgan Lowers and Blake Wallert the Eagles expect to have a lot more firepower up and down the lineup than the last few year