NORTH CHARLESTON, SC— Winthrop softball fell 4-0 and 6-4 as Charleston Southern swept a doubleheader, Saturday afternoon at the CSU Softball Complex.

The Eagles fall to 21-25 overall and 7-8 in the Big South. CSU improves to 22-29 overall and is now tied with the Eagles in the league standings at 7-8. Winthrop will step away from conference action as it travels to Chapel Hill, NC for a single-game at North Carolina on Wednesday, Apr. 19 at 5 p.m.

"It was senior day and their senior's just hit it," said Winthrop co-head coach Mark Cooke. "We hit the ball well today and put runners in scoring position but just couldn't drive them in. Their pitcher Cheyenne Gandara did a good job against us in the first game when she needed to."

On the day the Eagles finished with four runs on 18 hits and stranded 20 base runners. For the three-game series Winthrop outhit the Buccaneers 25-18 and left a total of 26 runners stranded. Covington extended her streak of reaching base to eight games while she and Lowers extended their hitting streak to five games.

In the rubber game the Eagles fell behind 4-1 in the first inning. Paige Haley led off the game with a single and came around a few batters later to score on a wild pitch. Then the Buccaneers used two-run home runs from Jade Gandara and Stephanie Bergmann in the bottom of the first for the 4-1 lead.

Winthrop tied the game in the third inning with three runs. Haley led off the inning with a single and then stole second. After being sacrificed to third, Haley crossed the plate on a Maddie Antone double off the wall in center. Ashley Westbrooks followed with an RBI double to left center and then Tara Loken tied the game with an RBI single.

Georgi DeLio broke the tie in the bottom of the fourth with a two-out solo home run to left center on a 1-2 pitch.

The Eagles threatened in the fifth as Ashley Westbrooks reached on an error to short to get the tying run on base. She was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Morgan Lowers. After Tara Loken struck out, Kiley Majette singled through the hole at third to put runners on the corners. Ansley Gilreath grounded out to second to end the inning.

The Bucs added some insurance in the bottom of the fifth as Stevi Johnson hit a solo home run to left.

The Eagles led off the 7^th inning with back-to-back singles by Lowers and pinch-hitter Madyson Watson. Two batters later with one out Gilreath worked the count to full and then hit a sharp grounder up the middle that was scooped up quickly by the pitcher on one short hop as Gilreath was out at first. Brooke Ellison stepped in and nearly tied the game as she ripped a shot down the right field line just foul before striking out.

Majette took the loss and fell to 12-13 in a complete game effort allowing six runs on six hits with a walk and nine strikeouts.

The Eagles had several chances to score in the first game of the doubleheader as they had seven hits and ended up stranding a total of nine base runners. One of the best chances came in the 2^nd inning as Keleigh Romine singled with one out. That was followed by a double to right center by Gilreath. Ellison flew out to shallow center and then pinch-hitter A.G. Gardner fouled out to first base.

In the fourth inning, Ellison doubled to left center with two outs as Majette moved to third, but Haley grounded out to short. The Eagles had another opportunity in the fifth but with two outs after back-to-back singles from Westbrooks and Lowers, but Leah Young struck out.

The Eagles finished the game 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and were shutout for the first time in league play this season.

Charleston Southern used the long ball to for three of its four runs as Johnson connected on a solo home run in the first and Gandara hit a two-run, two-out home run for a 3-0 lead. The fourth run came in the fifth with two outs as Johnson picked up her second RBI of the game with a single through the hole at first.

Romine started the game going 2.2 innings allowing three runs on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts as she falls to 3-8 on the year. Majette tossed 2.1 innings of relief allowing one run on two hits and recorded four strikeouts.