ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop softball is back in action this weekend as it heads to the coast to participate in the Holy City Showdown hosted by the College of Charleston.
 
WHERE: Patriots Point, SC (Patriots Points Athletics Complex)
WHEN: Saturday-Sunday (Mar. 10-11)
2018 RECORDS/ALL-TIME RECORD vs. OPPONENT: Winthrop (8-6) | Eastern Illinois (13-6 / 2-1) | Norfolk State (9-12 / 1-0) | Wright State (3-12 / 9-2) | College of Charleston (12-7 / 12-12)
FOLLOW: @WUGameDay | @Winthropsoftbal | @WUEagles
 
 

HOLY CITY SHOWDOWN

Winthrop vs. Eastern Illinois	Saturday, Mar. 10, 12:15 p.m.	Live Stats
Winthrop vs. Norfolk St.	Saturday, Mar. 10, 4:45 p.m.	Live Stats
Winthrop vs. Wright St.	Sunday, Mar. 11, 10 a.m.	Live Stats
Winthrop vs. College of Charleston	Sunday, Mar. 11, 12:15 p.m.	Live Stats

 A LOOK AT THE COMPETITION

• The Eagles will face Eastern Illinois, which is off to a good start his season
• The Panthers won 10 straight after opening the season 2-3 at the Mardi Gras Classic
• Mia Davis leads the team in batting at .381 followed by Kayla Bear (.369) and Haley Mitchell (.357)
• The team is batting .273 while the pitching staff holds an ERA of 2.90 (103 strikeouts to 51 walks in 125.2 innings)
• This will be the second straight week the Eagles face Norfolk State as they pulled out a 4-3 win last weekend after trailing 3-1 after three innings
• The Spartans played six midweek games this week and coming off a split at North Carolina A&T
• Shelby Deschamps leads the team with a .488 batting average while the top offensive threat has been Kylee Lopez with a .381 average, five home runs and 21 RBI
• After opening the season with 11 straight losses, Wright State has won 3-of-4
• Honnah Susor leads the team with a .350 average and 10 runs while Madison Whitaker leads the team with 7 RBI
• The Cougars have won two straight and three of four entering the weekend
• As a team the Cougars are batting .304 while the pitching staff holds a 3.56 ERA
• Taylor DuPree leads the team with a .422 average and 15 runs while Jordin Jones has a team-high 18 RBI followed by Kelly Sinclair with 17

 
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES

• Eagles have won two straight and four of the last five
• The team's strength through 14 games has been pitching
• Winthrop is second in the Big South with a team ERA of 2.58 as the staff has also recorded 80 strikeouts to 27 walks in 92.1 innings
• Junior Kiley Majette leads the staff at 5-2 and has a 1.37 ERA that ranks first in the conference
• Majette has struck out 47 batters in 46 innings and has issued just six walks (with 4 coming in one game)
• Junior Blake Wallert is swinging a hot bat as she's hit safely in seven straight games (a career-high hitting streak)
• Ashley Westbrooks had seven hits over the weekend with four runs, a home run and three RBI as she posted a .500 on-base percentage
• Wallert leads the team in batting at .342 while Westbrooks is second at .317
• Morgan Lowers is the only other Eagle batting .300 or better at .302

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 758-794-3 at Winthrop and 842-843-3 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 11 strikeouts from 300
• Her 289 career strikeouts rank 8^th all-time in program history, as she trails 7^th by 15

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
The Eagles will have completed the tournament portion of their regular season and have a four-day break to turn their focus to the Big South Conference as they open with Charleston Southern in a three-game series beginning Friday, Mar. 16 at 6 p.m.