ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop softball is set to host the Winthrop/Adidas Tournament this weekend as it welcomes six teams to the Winthrop softball complex with competition beginning Friday.
| WINTHROP/ADIDAS TOURNAMENT |
| Winthrop vs. Sacred Heart |
Friday, Mar. 2, 3 p.m. |
Live Stats |
| Winthrop vs. Albany |
Friday, Mar. 2, 5 p.m. |
Live Stats |
| Winthrop vs. Morehead St. |
Saturday, Mar. 3, 3 p.m. |
Live Stats |
| Winthrop vs. Norfolk St. |
Saturday, Mar. 3, 5 p.m. |
Live Stats |
| Winthrop vs. Youngstown St. |
Sunday, Mar. 4, 2 p.m. |
Live Stats |
ALL-TIME RECORDS vs. OPPONENTS (2018 RECORD): 1
st meeting vs. Sacred Heart (3-2) | 1-3 vs. Albany (2-3) | 1
st meeting vs. Norfolk State (8-3) | 1
st meeting vs. Morehead State (8-4) | 2-0 vs. Youngstown State (4-3)
A LOOK AT THE COMPETITION
- There are six schools coming into town for the Winthrop/adidas Tournament but the Eagles will only be playing as Eastern Kentucky will compete but not against the Eagles
- Sacred Heart enters off a 2-0 loss to Indiana State but won 10-4 over Tennessee Tech, 8-0 over UT Chattanooga and 4-0 over Indiana State prior
- Pitching has been the strength of the Pioneers so far holding a 1.34 ERA as the team is batting just .218
- Albany opened the season last week, going 2-3 with wins over Rhode Island and Eastern Michigan
- Norfolk State has hit the ball well so far this season with a .338 average and 85 runs in 11 games (7.7 per game)
- The Spartans also hold a solid team ERA at 2.27 as two pitchers dominate the innings, but have thrown five total pitchers at least 6.1 innings or more
- Morehead State is off to a good start as hitting and pitching have been solid (batting .263 as a team and holding a 2.34 ERA)
- The Eagles have averaged 4.3 runs and have shown a lot of power in the early weeks with 12 doubles and 10 home runs
- Youngstown State has hit the ball well in its 4-3 start, batting .354 with 6.4 runs per game
- The Eagles won't be facing EKU but the Colonels have hit and pitched well (batting .265 and holding an ERA of 2.51)
WINTHROP/ADIDAS TOURNAMENT
- Since 2015 the Eagles are 10-1 in the Winthrop/adidas Tournament
- Youngstown State is the only returning team to the tournament in that span
- Game will be played on two different fields and will go from Friday to Sunday
- All five of Winthrop's games will be played on Terry Field
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Winthrop looks to end a four-game skid and are 4-5 entering the tournament
- Winthrop and Georgia tried to battle through the rain on Wednesday as the two teams waited an hour and 17 minutes to throw the first pitch
- The game only made it through three innings before field conditions were too poor to continue
- Kiley Majette bounced back from her worst performance of the season at USC Upstate on Saturday to toss nine innings allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits with no walks and nine strikeouts
- Majette now has 31 strikeouts to five walks
- Junior Morgan Lowers is leading the team in batting at .321 and also leads in doubles with four
- Blake Wallert is off to a good start at the plate, batting .318 with two runs, a double, and a home run (has started all nine games)
- Tori Walker has a team-best streak of four consecutive games reaching base
- A couple of sophomore's lead the team in RBI as Ashley Westbrooks has four and Ansley Gilreath has three
HEAD COACH MARK COOKE
- Head coach Mark Cooke is in his 34th season overall and 29th year at Winthrop
- Cooke announced this will be his final season coaching as he enters the year with a record of 754-793-3 at Winthrop and 838-842-3 in his career
- He is the Big South Conference's all-time leader in victories, conference wins, and conference tournament victories
- During his tenure the Eagles have won four Big South Tournament titles and four Big South regular season championships
- Cooke has led his team to 11 Big South Conference Tournament Title games (tied with Coastal Carolina's Jess Dannelly for the most by any coach in league history)
- Voted Big South Coach of the Year in 2005, 2007 and 2008
- He guided the 2007 squad to a program record 50 wins and is one of only two teams in the history of the Big South to win 50 games in a single-season
2018 PLAYER HONORS/MILESTONES
- Kiley Majette was named the Big South Pitcher of the Week after the opening weekend for the Eagles
- That weekend she was 2-0 in three appearances that included a no-hitter against Samford
- It was the first no-hitter in the program since Kelli Johnson had one on Apr. 21, 2005 against Furman
- Majette reached 250 career strikeouts in the opener when she struck out 12 in the win over Evansville and is now zeroing in on 300, which should be achieved in the coming weeks
- Her 273 career strikeouts rank 8th all-time in program history, just passing Sarah Allen's career mark of 272
SCHEDULE
- Eagles will have 18 contests against teams that finished in the Top 125 of RPI in 2017, 12 in the Top 100, 11 in the Top 75, eight in the Top 50 and four in the Top 25
- Seven opponents on the slate this year competed in an NCAA Regional in 2017
- There are 26 different opponents on the schedule and 14 of them had a winning record in 2017 (15 were .500 or better)
- Seven of the opponents finished with 30 or more wins and four had 40 or more wins
BIG SOUTH PRESEASON POLL
Winthrop was picked to finish sixth in the annual preseason poll, despite returning eight starters and all four pitchers from the 2017 team that finished 5
th in the league. Longwood was voted to win the league, receiving 5-of-8 first place votes, followed by Liberty, Campbell, Charleston Southern, Radford, Winthrop, Presbyterian College and Gardner-Webb.
