ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop softball will host 11^th-ranked South Carolina on Wednesday night for a single-game with the first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
 
WHERE: Rock Hill, SC (Terry Field)
WHEN: Wednesday, Apr. 11, 6 p.m. 
RECORDS: Winthrop (15-20) | #11 South Carolina (33-7)
LIVE STATS: Statbroadcast (click here)
LIVE VIDEO: none
FOLLOW: @WUGameDay | @Winthropsoftbal 
 
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS SOUTH CAROLINA

• The Eagles and Gamecocks have met 67 times with South Carolina leading the all-time series 56-10-1
• South Carolina has won nine straight meetings as Winthrop's last win in the series came Feb. 16, 2011 (5-2)

 GLANCE AT THE EAGLES

• Eagles captured a series 2-1 at Presbyterian College last weekend, their second in league play
• Ashley Westbrooks continues to lead the team in batting with a .342 average and has hit safely in four straight games
• Ansley Gilreath has two hits in each of her last three games as well as an RBI in each
• Since the start of the PC series Gilreath bumped her season average 38 points to .247 and is second on the team with 16 RBI
• Morgan Lowers is second on the team with a .304 average and has hit safely in six of the last nine games
• Lowers is looking to better her career-high batting average for a season, which she set as a freshmen (.295)
• Kiley Majette leads the pitching staff at 9-9 and an ERA of 2.65 with 93 strikeouts to 20 walks
• Majette is 5-6 with an ERA of 2.79 in non-conference action this season as she's struck out 63 and walked 11 in 70.1 innings

GLANCE AT THE GAMECOCKS

• Coming off a 2-1 series win over Arkansas at home this past weekend
• Hold a record of 25-3 in non-conference games this season
• Have won four of five games overall and four straight against non-conference foes
• South Carolina is led by Kenzi Maguire (.378) and Mackenzie Boesel (.367) at the plate
• Boesel leads the team with 34 RBI while Maguire leads with 36 runs as the two have combined for 70 runs, 99 hits, 20 doubles, seven home runs and 58 RBI
• Defensively one of the best in the country, ranking 13^th in fielding percentage and 23^rd in double plays per game
• The team ERA is 1.74, which ranks 15^th nationally as Kelsey Oh leads the way with a 10-2 record, 1.51 ERA and three shutouts
• Cayla Drotar has the most starts with 17 is 15-2 with a 1.60 ERA and four shutouts

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 765-808-3 at Winthrop and 849-857-3 in his career
• He is the Big South Conference's all-time leader in victories (765), conference wins (216), and conference tournament victories (53)
• 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 300 strikeouts in her career and now has 335, which ranks 7^th on the all-time list
• In the first game against Coastal Carolina, Blake Wallert played in her 100^th game and in that game hit a walk-off grand slam to run-rule Coastal in an 11-3 win
• Majette moved into 10^th all-time at Winthrop with 39 career complete games and is three wins away from the Top 10

2018 SCHEDULE

• Eagles have 18 contests scheduled 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
• As of Apr. 10 Winthrop had two of its 2018 opponents in the Top 10 of RPI, seven in the Top 65, and 11 in the Top 100  

 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
Winthrop will head to Cullowhee, NC for a doubleheader at Western Carolina beginning at 4 p.m. the games were originally scheduled on Wednesday, Mar. 21 but moved due to the threat of winter weather.
 
27^th EAGLE CLUB SCHOLARSHIP AUCTION (APR. 14)
The 27^th Eagle Club Scholarship Auction is right around the corner and there is still time to get your tickets for this great event. The event will take place on Apr. 14 at 6 p.m. inside the Winthrop Coliseum. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with the silent auction beginning at 6 p.m. followed by dinner and the live auction starting at approximately 8 p.m. There is also Live Bidding, which began on Monday, Apr. 2. For more information contact Taryn Moreno, coordinator for the Eagle Club (803-323-2129, ext. 3067 or morenot@winthrop.edu) or visit www.winthropeagles.com/auction.