ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop softball will host Charleston Southern for a three-game series this weekend in the Big South opener for both programs with the opening game Friday night at 6 p.m.
 
WHERE: Rock Hill, SC (Terry Field/Winthrop Softball Complex)
WHEN: Friday, Mar. 16, 6 p.m. (single game) / Saturday, Mar. 17, 1/3 p.m. (doubleheader)
RECORDS: Winthrop (9-9, 0-0 Big South) | Charleston Southern (16-11, 0-0 Big South)
LIVE STATS: Game 1 / Game 2 / Game 3
FOLLOW: @WUGameDay | @Winthropsoftbal 
 
SERIES HISTORY/LEAGUE OPENERS

• Winthrop and Charleston Southern have met 102 times
• That's the second most games against any opponent behind Coastal Carolina (110)
• Winthrop leads the all-time series 70-32, but has lost seven of the last 10 meetings
• The last time these two teams met was the Big South Conference tournament as the Eagle bats came alive for an 8-0 win in seven innings
• The Eagles opened league play 3-0 last year with a sweep of PC as they are 10-6 in league openers since 2002

 
JANIVA WILLIS DEDICATION SATURDAY

• Prior to Saturday's first game of the doubleheader, there will be a dedication for Janiva Willis Memorial Hitting Facility at Terry Field at 12:30 p.m.
• Willis was a standout player for the Eagles and is a Winthrop Hall of Famer
• Following her tragic death in April of 2016, an initiative began to name the hitting facility in her memory as she left her legacy in the Rock Hill and Charlotte communities

 
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES

• Eagles looking to end a two-game skid after dropping two close games on the final day of the Holy City Showdown last weekend in Mt. Pleasant, SC
• Morgan Lowers leads the team with a .333 average and is second with five RBI
• Ashley Westbrooks is second on the team with a .321 average, tied for the team-lead in runs with seven and has a team-best 10 RBI
• Keleigh Romine was inserted into the starting lineup as a designated player on Mar. 2 vs. Albany and has at least one hit in six of the last eight games she's started
• Romine is 9-for-23 with two runs and two RBI in that stretch, three of the hits have been doubles
• In 2017 the Eagles faced the Buccaneers five times as Shayna Covington, Lowers, and Westbrooks all batted .400 or better in those games
• Westsbrooks batted .400 with six runs, a double, a home run, five RBI and had an on-base percentage of .526
• Kiley Majette has led the Eagles in the circle as she's 5-4 on the year with a 1.86 ERA and 57 strikeouts to nine walks in 60.1 innings
• Majette faced the Bucs five times last season (two starts) and posted a 2-2 record with a 2.55 ERA with 26 strikeouts to six walks in 24.2 innings as she held the Bucs to a .196 batting average
• The Eagles are second in the Big South in team ERA (2.61)
• Majette's third in the league in ERA (1.86) and Sabrina Shroades is 4^th at 1.91

GLANCE AT THE BUCCANEERS

• Like the Eagles, the Bucs are looking to end a losing skid after dropping three straight (two losses by one run)
• The Bucs captured 13 of their 16 wins in the first 16 games of the season, which included an eight-game winning streak
• Jade Gandara, a conference player of the year candidate, leads the Bucs with a .429 average, 24 runs, 10 home runs and 34 RBI
• She ranks second in the Big South in hits, RBI and is tied for second in home runs
• The team's .298 batting average is second best in the league while leading the conference in home runs, and second in doubles
• The offense is 32^nd nationally in scoring offense at 5.81 runs per game
• Annie Bakenhus is second on the team with a .400 average as she's got 15 runs, 10 RBI and is 7-for-7 stealing bases
• The pitching staff has been pretty balanced this season led by Arizona Pilgrim's 60.2 innings
• Pilgrim is 6-4 with a 2.88 ERA and has 43 strikeouts to 20 walks
• Holly Clark is 5-5 with a team-best 2.44 ERA with 22 strikeouts to 12 walks in 43 innings while Alyssa Heinrich has pitched 39 innings and is 5-1 with a 3.23 ERA and 21 strikeouts to 12 walks

HEAD COACH MARK COOKE

• Head coach Mark Cooke is in his 34^th season overall and 29^th year at Winthrop
• Cooke announced this will be his final season coaching as he enters the year with a record of 759-797-3 at Winthrop and 843-846-3 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 and this past week for a second time this season
• Majette tossed her second no-hitter of the season and didn't allow a run in 16 innings pitched during the Winthrop/adidas Tournament
• For her first weekly honor 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 just one strikeout from 300
• Her 299 career strikeouts rank 8^th all-time in program history, as she trails 7^th by five

2018 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.
 
ON DECK
After its conference opening series with Charleston Southern the Eagles will have a chance to step away from league play for a doubleheader at Western Carolina on Mar. 21 at 4 p.m. before heading to Campbell Mar. 24-25 for a three-game series.