ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop softball will be seeded sixth for the 2018 Big South Conference Softball Championship and will open up against third-seeded Radford on Wednesday, May 9 at 2:30 p.m.
 
WHAT: Big South Conference Championship
WHERE: Radford, VA (Radford Softball Stadium)
WHEN: Wednesday-Saturday, May 9-11 
RECORDS: Winthrop (17-30, 7-14 Big South) | Radford (33-17, 13-8 Big South)
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO
FOLLOW: @WUGameDay | @Winthropsoftbal 
(Championship Central)

Wednesday, May 9 (Games 1-3); TV: Big South Network
Game 1: No. 4 Campbell vs. No. 5 Gardner-Webb, 12:00pm
Game 2: No. 3 Radford vs. No. 6 Winthrop, 2:30pm
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 5:00pm (elimination game)
 
Thursday, May 10 (Games 4-6); TV: ESPN+
Game 4: No. 1 Liberty vs. Winner Game 1, 12:00pm
Game 5: No. 2 Longwood vs. Winner Game 2, 2:30pm
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4/5 (low seed), 5:00pm (elimination game)
 
Friday, May 11 (Games 7-9); TV: ESPN3
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 4/5 (high seed), 12:00pm (elimination game)
Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 2:30pm
Game 9: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 5:00pm (elimination game)
 
Saturday, May 12 (Championship Day); TV: ESPN3
Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, 12:00pm
Game 11: If Necessary: Winner Game 10 vs. Loser Game 10, 2:30pm
 
WINTHROP BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT HISTORY

• This will be Winthrop's 29^th Big South Conference Tournament appearance
• Winthrop is 56-48 all-time in the conference championship. The 56 wins are second-most all-time behind Coastal Carolina (67)
• Winthrop and Coastal Carolina are tied for the most tournament titles with six while Winthrop is second all-time in championship game appearances (12) and Coastal is first (13)
• This is just the second time the Eagles have ever been the sixth-seed. The last time they were was 1999 and the Eagles opened up against third-seeded Radford. 

SERIES HISTORY VERSUS RADFORD

• Winthrop and Radford have faced each other 84 times
• Highlanders lead the all-time series 49-35 as the two teams split their four meetings in 2017
• Radford swept the Eagles in the regular season, outscoring them 19-12
• Radford has won eight of the past 10 three-game series since 2009 

GLANCE AT THE EAGLES

• Eagles have played just three games since the doubleheader at Longwood on April 21
• Have lost eight of the last nine games (four by one run)
• Winthrop is 0-6 all-time when playing the tournament at Radford
• Ashley Westbrooks (C), Ansley Gilreath (1B) and Kiley Majette (SP) were all named to the Second Team All-Conference
• Blake Wallert was named to the Big South All-Academic Team
• Westbrooks continues to lead the team in batting at .342 and has nine hits in the last six games
• Gilreath finished with 20 RBI in league games, becoming the first Eagle with 20 or more RBI in league play since Meghan Winningham had 20 in 2014
• Winthrop is 3-2 in the last five years in its opening game of the conference tournament
• In 28 seasons under Mark Cooke, the Eagles have only been 0-2 in the conference tournament three times as Cooke is the all-time leader in conference tournament victories at 53

 
GLANCE AT THE HIGHLANDERS

• Highlanders are 33-40 all-time in the conference tournament
• Radford has 10 wins all-time as the #3 seed and when hosting the championship it has a record of 8-5
• Enter the conference tournament having won 11-of-13 games
• Sweeping the doubleheader at Charleston Southern helped the Eagles qualify for the conference tournament
• Have a home record of 16-9 on the year
• Led by Marissa Gagliano's average of .369 as she's also leading the team with 44 runs and 19 stolen bases
• Maggie Rowe leads the team with 44 RBI, which ranks 6^th in the league and has a team-high nine homeruns
• Talia Douglas is second on the team with 34 RBI and Hunter Mundy is third with 32 RBI
• Came into series at Winthrop batting .237 as a team but have since raised the average to .270 and averaging 4.9 runs per game
• Abby Morrow and Kayla Huffman combined for one of the top pitching staffs in the league
• The team ranked third in ERA at 2.57, opponent's batting average, strikeouts and wins

 
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 356, 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 ranks 9^th all-time at Winthrop with 43 career complete games and is two wins away from the Top 10