ROCK HILL, SC— The Winthrop softball team wraps-up its non-conference part of the schedule on Tuesday, April 17 as it travels to Western Carolina for a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m.  
 
WHERE: Cullowhee, NC (Catamount Softball Complex)
WHEN: Tuesday, April 17, 4/6 p.m.
RECORDS: Winthrop (16-23 | Western Carolina (10-26)
LIVE STATS: Game 1 / Game 2
LIVE VIDEO: Game 1 / Game 2
FOLLOW: @WUGameDay | @Winthropsoftbal 
 
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS WESTERN CAROLINA

• Winthrop and Western Carolina were originally scheduled to play this doubleheader on Mar. 21, but inclement weather forced a postponement
• The Eagles and Catamounts have met 15 times with the Eagles holding a record of 11-4 in the series
• Last year the Eagles swept a doubleheader from the Catamounts in Rock Hill with wins of 4-3 and 8-4 

GLANCE AT THE EAGLES

• Eagles dropped their final home series last weekend as Gardner-Webb took the series with a 7-5 win in game three
• This is the final non-conference competition for the Eagles this year
• Ashley Westbrooks has a team-high .333 average while Morgan Lowers is next at .283 followed by Blake Wallert at .260
• Westbrooks lead the team with nine doubles, 23 runs and 23 RBI
• Ansley Gilreath is enjoying a career year at the plate as she belted her career-best eighth homerun in the final game of the Gardner-Webb series and now has 21 RBI on the year (also a career-high)
• In addition to her power numbers, Gilreath leads the team with 12 walks
• Currently A.G. Gardner has the longest hitting streak at three games and Tori Walker has the best streak of reaching base at five straight
• Kiley Majette has 20 starts and is 9-12 with a 3.01 ERA with 99 strikeouts to 23 walks
• Sabrina Shroades and Madyson Watson have combined for 19 starts
• Shroades is 2-6 with a 2.83 ERA and Watson is 5-5 with a 4.95 ERA

GLANCE AT THE CATAMOUNTS

• Catamounts have dropped two straight and 8-of-9
• Have only played 10 home games all year and are 2-8
• Led by Ashlyn Long offensively as she is batting .302 with 21 runs, six doubles, six homeruns and 20 RBI
• Hunter Gibbons leads the team with 23 runs, nine homeruns and 21 RBI
• Erica Hayes is batting .292 with 20 runs, five doubles, two triples, two homeruns and five RBI
• 0-2 against the Big South this season with losses of 13-12 and 11-3 to Gardner-Webb back in mid-February

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 766-811-3 at Winthrop and 850-860-3 in his career
• He is the Big South Conference's all-time leader in victories (766), conference wins (217), 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 341, 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 40 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
The Eagles head to Farmville, VA to take on the defending Big South Champion Longwood Lancers beginning with a single-game on Friday, April 20 at 5 p.m. and a doubleheader on Saturday, Apr. 21 at 1 p.m. Winthrop took last year's series in Rock Hill as the Eagles swept the eventual champions at Terry Field.