ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop has just two Big South Conference series remaining on the year and both are on the road starting at first-place Longwood this weekend.  
 
WHERE: Farmville, VA (Lancer Field)
WHEN: Friday, Apr. 20, 5 p.m. | Saturday, Apr. 21, 1 p.m. (doubleheader) 
RECORDS: Winthrop (16-25, 6-9 Big South) | Longwoood (28-13, 12-3 Big South)
LIVE STATS: Game 1 / Game 2 / Game 3
LIVE VIDEO: none
FOLLOW: @WUGameDay | @Winthropsoftbal 
 
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS LONGWOOD

• Winthrop and Longwood have met 21 times with Longwood leading 13-8 in the series
• The Eagles swept the regular season series in Rock Hill last season with three one-run games
• Longwood had won six straight in the series 

GLANCE AT THE EAGLES

• Coming off two losses in a doubleheader at Western Carolina on Tuesday
• Eagles have lost three straight overall and 5-of-6
• On the year the Eagles are 3-12 in away games but captured a league series at Presbyterian College
• Currently tied in the standings with Charleston Southern for the last position to get into the Big South Tournament and hold the head-to-head tie-breaker
• Ashley Westbrooks has hit safely in three straight games and leads the team with a .331 average
• Westbrooks leads the team with 24 runs and 23 RBI
• Ansley Gilreath leads the team with eight homeruns and is second with 21 RBI
• Kiley Majette leads the pitching staff as she's made 21 starts and 25 appearances and is 9-13 with a 2.99 ERA and103 strikeouts to 23 walks

GLANCE AT THE LANCERS

• Tied for first in the league standings with Liberty at 12-3
• Have won four in a row, 6-of-7 and 9-of-11
• Hold a 10-3 record at home this season
• Led by Kaylynn Batten's .388 average as she also leads the team with 33 RBI
• Batting .278 as a team, which ranks fourth in the Big South and leads the league with a team ERA of 2.03
• Sydney Gay leads the pitching staff at 18-7 and an ERA of 1.82
• Gay has 131 strikeouts to 53 walks in 150 innings
• Lancers have won all five of their league series with two sweeps

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 766-813-3 at Winthrop and 850-862-3 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 345, 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 41 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 have a two week break as it won't be back in action until Friday, May 4 as it heads to Lynchburg, VA for a series at Liberty to finish the regular season. Winthrop will face the Flames on Friday at 6 p.m. in a single-game with the doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m.