ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop heads into the final weekend of the regular season with an opportunity to grab one of the final two spots in next week's Big South Conference Tournament as it wraps-up league play at league-leading Liberty.

The schedule for the weekend has been rearranged as the team's will now play a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 4 p.m. and Saturday's game time is still being determined as of the end of the work day on Thursday. 
 
WHERE: Lynchburg, VA (Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium)
WHEN: Friday, May 4, 4 p.m./6 p.m. doubleheader | Saturday, 10 a.m. (ESPN3) 
RECORDS: Winthrop (17-27, 7-11 Big South) | Liberty (41-12, 15-3 Big South)
LIVE STATS: Game 1 / Game 2 / Game 3
LIVE VIDEO: Game 3 (ESPN3)
LIVE AUDIO: Liberty Flames Sports Network (LSFN Radio 90.9 FM)
FOLLOW: @WUGameDay | @Winthropsoftbal 
 
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS LIBERTY

• Winthrop and Liberty meet for the 73rd, 74th and 75th time as the Eagles have a slight edge in the all-time series 37-35
• The Eagles dropped their series with Liberty at home last year after winning the series-opener 4-3
• Since the league moved to three-game series the Eagles have taken 6-of-11 series with the Flames
• In the last 10 meetings the Flames have won six, including six of the last seven meetings 

GLANCE AT THE EAGLES

• Eagles have been off since their 5-3 win at Longwood in the final game of the series on April 21
• It was just the second time this season the Eagles captured the final game of a three-game Big South series (at Presbyterian College was the other)
• Heading into the final weekend of the regular season with an opportunity to be one of the Top 6 teams in the league and qualify for the conference tournament
• Currently lead Charleston Southern by a single-game in the standings and hold the head-to-head tie breaker
• The Buccaneers are home to Radford starting with a single-game Friday and a doubleheader on Saturday
• Ashley Westbrooks and Ansley Gilreath are coming off strong performances at the plate in 14 games in the month of April
• Westbrooks led the team with a .340 average and had five runs, a homerun and eight RBI
• Gilreath batted .324 with three runs, three homeruns and 12 RBI and had an on-base percentage of .432
• Tori Walker returned from injury on April 6 at Presbyterian College and has started every game since as she's hitting .276 with five runs and two RBI in that span
• Westbrooks leads the team with a .342 average, 12 doubles and 26 RBI
• Gilreath leads the team in homeruns with nine and is second with 24 RBI
• Kiley Majette earned the win on April 21 at Longwood, which was her first in six starts

GLANCE AT THE FLAMES

• Have won 11 straight including a four wins over ACC competition and five in a row against league teams
• Currently in first place in the Big South standings, holding a one game lead on Longwood but in order to earn the #1 overall seed at the conference tournament the Flames need to win the regular season outright
• Rank second in the league in runs, second in batting average, second in earned run average, and first in fielding percentage
• Leading the Big South in total extra-base hits with 133 (84 doubles, 18 triples and 31 homeruns)
• The offense is led by sisters Amber and Autumn Bishop who have combined for 80 runs, 69 RBI
• Amber Bishop is batting a team-best .375 with 38 runs, 15 doubles, 10 homeruns and 35 RBI
• Autumn Bishop is batting .363 with 42 runs, 21 doubles, six homeruns and 34 RBI
• Big South Pitcher of the Year candidate Julia DiMartino leads the pitching staff as she's 23-7 with a 1.93 ERA and has 190 strikeouts to 44 walks in 188.1 innings

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 holds a record of 767-815-3 at Winthrop and 851-864-3 in his career
• He is the Big South Conference's all-time leader in victories (767), 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 352, 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 tie for 9^th all-time at Winthrop with 42 career complete games and is two 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 May 1, Winthrop had two of its 2018 opponents in the Top 10 of RPI, four 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.