ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop softball steps away from league play to take on North Carolina on the road, Wednesday evening in a single-game starting at 5 p.m.
 
GAME SNAPSHOT
Winthrop (21-25) at North Carolina (35-11)
Location: Chapel Hill, NC (Anderson Softball Stadium)
Live Stats / Live Video (Watch ESPN)
    
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS NORTH CAROLINA
This will mark the 39^th meeting all-time between Winthrop and North Carolina, but the first since Apr. 7, 2010. That year the Eagles dropped a doubleheader in Chapel Hill with losses of 2-0 and 3-2. The last time the Eagles defeated North Carolina was May 19, 2007 in Knoxville, TN in a 6-3 win to advance to the NCAA Regional final. UNC leads the all-time series 31-7. The only other wins the Eagles have over UNC as a Div. I member came in 1986 as they split two doubleheader meetings.
 
A GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
Winthrop opened up its series at Charleston Southern with a 6-3 win, but dropped the next two 4-0 and 6-4 despite having 18 hits in the two games. In those two games of the doubleheader alone the Eagles stranded 20 runners. In the last five games Winthrop has left 45 runners on base. Despite dropping the series the Eagles are in third place in the Big South standings, one game ahead of Charleston Southern. Maddie Antone was just 2-for-12 in the Charleston Southern series but her average remains above .400 at .402. Freshman Ashley Westbrooks has six hits in the last five games and has pushed her average to .322 and is second on the team with 27 RBI. Senior Paige Haley scored her 90^th run in her career at Charleston Southern. Haley had two hits in the series opener at CSU and also had two hits in the rubber match. She will be playing in her 195^th game as an Eagle. Kiley Majette leads the team with 12 wins in the circle, but will try and put last weekend in the past as she allowed four home runs to CSU after having allowed just six all season to that point. She has an ERA of 3.65 and it could be her or Keleigh Romine starting against the Tar Heels. Romine is 3-8 with a 3.67 ERA.

A GLANCE AT THE TAR HEELS
North Carolina has been hovering just outside the Top 25 of the NFCA and USA Today/Coaches Poll for several weeks now, but is ranked 21^st by D1SoftballNews.com. UNC has won five straight and three straight over non-conference opponents. At home this season the Tar Heels are 23-3 with the only losses coming to Ohio State, North Carolina State and Virginia. During the five-game win streak UNC has outscored opponents 25-12 with two shutouts.
 
NORTH CAROLINA PLAYERS TO WATCH
HITTERS
Kendra Lynch, Sr., P/DP (.392 avg., 28 runs, 11 2B, 17 HR, 55 RBI, .461 on-base percentage)
Taylor Wike, Jr., SS (.374, 43 runs, 13 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 39 RBI, 17-19 SB/SBA, .440 on-base percentage)

PITCHERS
Brittany Pickett, Fr., LHP (20-2, 1.99 ERA, 11 CG, 4 SHO, 5 Saves, 113 K, 26 BB, 154.2 IP)
Kendra Lynch, Sr., RHP (9-4, 4.98 ERA, 3 CG, 43 K, 18 BB, 84.1 IP)

MAKING THEIR MARK
Leah Young, Maddie Antone and Paige Haley are leaving their marks in the Winthrop history books. Young became the 15^th player in program history to reach 80 RBI in a career and Antone became the 16^th. Antone and Young are both closing in on 90 RBI (89), only 12 players have reach 90 or more in a career. Young has 20 career home runs, becoming the 7^th player all-time to reach 20 in a career and Antone is 8^th all-time with 18. Young hit her 10^th career triple against Western Carolina, becoming the sixth player in program history to reach 10 or more as she's tied for 5^th all-time. The team's active leader in hits is Antone (22^nd all-time) with 141, Haley ranks 23^rd all-time in hits with 139 and Young has 120 (32^nd all-time). Antone is currently the program's all-time leader in on-base percentage for a career at .472, pushing Lisa Kingsmore to second at .443. Haley with 64 career walks is now tied for 5^th all-time at Winthrop.  Haley also has a career on-base percentage of .352 and can finish in the Top 10 all-time if she stays at or above .349.
 
MAJETTE HAS FOUR WIN WEEK IN THE CIRCLE
Kiley Majette had about as good a week as you can have as a pitcher as she won four games in helping the team to a 4-1 mark on the week. She had a 2.40 ERA with 21 strikeouts to nine walks in 23.1 innings in five appearances (3 starts). She earned two of her wins as a starter and two in a relief effort. Since Mar. 18, Majette has a 7-2 record with an ERA of .2611 and 43 strikeouts to 13 walks in 47.1 innings. In eight appearances in league play she's 4-1 with a 2.53 ERA and 25 strikeouts to six walks in 27.2 innings.
 
WHAT'S ON DECK FOR THE EAGLES?
Winthrop will return home for its final home games of the year with a weekend series vs. Liberty. The series will start with a single-game Friday night at 7 p.m. and then on Saturday the first game of the double-header will be on ESPN3 (2 p.m.)
 
WESTBROOKS NAMED BIG SOUTH PLAYER OF THE WEEK (APR. 3)
Freshman Ashley Westbrooks was named the Big South Player of the Week after batting .400 with three runs, a double, a home run and six RBI in five games last week. She played a key role in a double-header split at Coastal Carolina and sweeping Longwood. She had the game-winning RBI in the win over Coastal and then hit a solo home run in the 1-0 win over Longwood in the series opener. In game two of the series with Longwood she came through with a two-run double in the 7^th to spark a 3-run rally for the win. She came around to score the game-winning run on a heads up play running the bases. This is the first time a Winthrop freshman earned BSC Player of the Week honors since Stephanie Reid on Apr. 18, 2005.

MAJETTE NAMED BIG SOUTH PITCHER OF THE WEEK (2^nd TIME THIS SEASON)
Kiley Majette was named the Big South Conference Pitcher of the Week on Mar. 20 It is the second time this season Majette has garnered the weekly honor. She went 2-0 on the week in four relief appearances as she posted a 0.54 ERA with no walks and 12 strikeouts in 13 innings. She allowed six hits on the week with just one going for extra bases. Majette threw 2.0 innings, allowed a hit, one unearned run with no walks and two strikeouts at Jacksonville State. In game one of the series against Presbyterian, Majette tossed the final two innings as she gave up one hit (no runs) and tallied five strikeouts. She earned the win in game two vs. PC as she tossed 5.1 innings. She allowed one hit (no runs) with no walks and tallied three strikeouts. She then tossed the final 3.2 innings of game three to earn another win as she allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits with no walks and two strikeouts.

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 years.