ATHENS, GA— Winthrop softball tossed back-to-back shutouts to earn wins over Samford and Evansville on Day 2 of the Red & Black Showcase on Saturday. Winthrop started the day with a 6-0 win over Samford and capped off the day with a 1-0 victory against Evansville.
GAME INFORMATION
SCORES: Winthrop 6, Samford 0 (Game 1) | Winthrop 1, Evansville (Game 2)
RECORDS: Winthrop (3-1), Samford (0-8), Evansville (2-4)
WINTHROP LEADERS vs. SAMFORD: Kiley Majette (Win/No-Hitter, 7.0 IP, BB, 6 Ks) /
Ansley Gilreath (2-for-2, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, run) /
Morgan Lowers (2-for-3, 2B, RBI),
Ashley Westbrooks (1-for-4, run, HR, 2 RBI)
WINTHROP LEADERS vs. EVANSVILE: Sabrina Shroades (Win/1-Hitter, 7.0 IP, 2 BB, 8K) /
Morgan Lowers (2-for-3, 2B) /
Ansley Gilreath (1-for-2, HR)
COACHES QUOTE
Head Coach Mark Cooke~
"She (Majette) was unbelievable today. She was in control the whole game, it was wonderful to watch. We put the ball in play, we did everything we we're supposed to do to get runs. Sabrina settled down after the first, went to work out there and It was fun to watch her. Our defense was good and Evansville's was as well in that last game. The team played like we thought we were capable of and those are two quality wins."
HIGHLIGHTS GAME 1 (SAMFORD)
- Kiley Majette dominated the circle as she tossed her first career no-hitter
- Majette allowed one base runner with a walk in the sixth inning as she finished with six strikeouts
- For the second time in three games, Winthrop jumped out to a lead in the first inning
- Shayna Covington walked to lead off and was sacrificed to second by Morgan Lowers
- Sabrina Shroades stepped up and delivered an RBI single to left and moved to second on an error
- Ansley Gilreath came through with a two-out single to center that scored Shroades for a 2-0 lead
- Lowers put the Eagles on top 3-0 in the second inning with an RBI double to left, scoring Tori Walker
- Gilreath made it a four-run lead in the third inning as she hit her second career home run
- In the bottom of the sixth, Ashley Westbrooks belted her first home run of the season with a two-run shot to left for a 6-0 lead
HIGHLIGHTS GAME 2 (EVANSVILLE)
- Shroades tossed her first career complete game shutout and set a career-high in strikeouts with eight
- Shroades ran into some trouble in the first inning as Evansville got runners at second and third with one out before she got the next two batters out
- The Eagles grabbed the lead in the second inning when Gilreath hammered a ball over the center field fence
- Winthrop finished with five hits and left three runners on base
NOTABLES
- Against Samford the Eagles had seven hits with four of them being for extra bases
- The Eagles had eight hits on Friday with just one for extra bases
- Majette's no-hitter was the first for the program since Apr. 21, 2005 when Kelli Johnson tossed one against Furman in a 3-0 win (Johnson also had six strikeouts in that game)
- The win is the 25th of Majette's career
- In two starts so far this season Majette has 18 strikeouts to one walk in 14 innings
- Morgan Lowers extended her hitting streak to 10 games dating back to last season with her double in the first inning against Evansville
- Dating back to the Big South Tournament last season the Eagles have tossed four shutouts in the last seven games
- Lowers led the team as a freshmen with multi-hit games with 12, was third last year with 15 and already has three in four games this season
ON DECK
Winthrop will wrap-up its weekend at the Red & Black Showcase on Sunday with a single game against Samford at 3:30 p.m.
