FARMVILLE, VA— Kiley Majette tossed a two-hit shutout to lead fifth-seeded Winthrop to an 8-0 win over fourth-seeded Charleston Southern, Thursday evening in an elimination game of the Big South Conference Championship.
Winthrop is now 26-30 overall and will face second-seeded Campbell in another elimination game on Friday with the first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m. Charleston Southern's season comes to an end as it finishes 26-36.
"Kiley gives up a base hit in the 7
th inning and then gives up another and she just closed the door," said Winthrop co-head coach
Mark Cooke. "I thought she was awesome today. We put the ball in play a lot today and we did some very good things. I'm proud of the effort, the kids played hard and I felt like we played about as good as we're capable. Charleston Southern is a very good opponent and that was a good win for us."
Majette improved to 15-16 on the year as she allowed just two hits (both in the seventh) with three walks and eight strikeouts.
After three scoreless innings
Maddie Antone got the offense going in the fourth with a leadoff double.
Ashley Westbrooks walked and then both moved over on a ground out by
Morgan Lowers. Charleston Southern chose to intentionally walk
Leah Young to load the base with no outs and freshman Asnsley Gilreath made them pay. Gilreath ripped a single through the left side that scored two runs.
Winthrop opened the game up in the fifth as it scores five runs. With the bases loaded and no outs Westbrooks stepped in and singled up the middle for a 4-0 lead. Young doubled to right for a 5-0 lead and then a single to left by
Brooke Ellison scored two more runs for a 7-0 lead.
Gilreath and Antone each had two hits while Westbrooks and Gilreath finished with two RBI. Antone's double was her 16
th of the season, which is one shy of the program's single-season record. Haley's hitting streak came to an end at seven games but she was 0-for-2 with a run and three walks. Westbrooks also moved within one RBI of the program's freshman record for a single-season.
This was the second consecutive shutout by the Eagles as Majette pitched both. They are the first two shutouts of her career and it's the first time since February of 2010 and the first time an Eagle team recorded two shutouts in conference tournament play since 1990.
