ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop softball is set to face a competitive field in a revamped schedule of the Charlotte First Pitch Classic Feb. 23-25.

 

Winthrop at Charlotte (DH)	Saturday, Feb. 23, 1 p.m./3 p.m.	Live Stats / Live Video
Winthrop vs. Youngstown State	Sunday, Feb. 24, 12 p.m.	Live Stats
Winthrop vs. #14/15 South Carolina	Sunday, Feb. 24, 4 p.m.	Live Stats
Winthrop at Charlotte	Monday, Feb. 25, 1:30 p.m.	Live Stats

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
ALL-TIME RECORDS vs. OPPONENTS: 40-37 vs. Charlotte | 3-0 vs. Youngstown State | 10-57-1 vs. South Carolina
  
FIRST PITCH CLASSIC

• The forecast of rain for much of the weekend forced schedule changes
• Lehigh was originally scheduled to attend but decided not to make the trip due to the forecast
• The revamped schedule has the Eagles still playing Charlotte, South Carolina and Youngstown State, but the Eagles will play the host 49ers three times instead of once as originally schedule

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

• Charlotte enters the weekend's action at 3-5 on the year, earning wins over Grand Canyon, Elon and Campbell
• Three of the team's five losses have been by two runs or less
• Batting .268 as a team and scoring 4.7 runs per game and allowing 6.3
• Youngstown State is 0-4 on the year as it opened the season two weeks ago at USC Upstate Spartan Classic
• The Gamecocks are off to a 7-2 start with the two losses coming to Baylor and North Carolina
• South Carolina has won four in a row and have outscored its last two opponents 25-8
• Gamecocks are batting .336 as a team and scoring 6.1 runs per game and allowing 3.3

GLANCE AT THE EAGLES

• Have started the season 6-4 after two weekend tournaments in the state of Georgia
• Offense has been impressive through 10 games batting .325 as a team and scoring 5.6 runs per game
• Of the team's 91 hits on the year, 23 of them are for extra bases (25 percent) as the team is averaging 9.1 hits per game
• Senior Morgan Lowers is off to a hot start at the plate, ranking third in the Big South with a .514 average
• She leads the Big South in hits (18), triples (3), slugging percentage (.914) and tied for first in home runs with two
• Lowers is tied for second in runs scored (10) and tied for third in RBI (12)
• Lowers along with Keleigh Romine have been two of the best in the Big South at getting on base as Lowers has an on-base percentage of .500 and Romine ranks 3^rd in the league at .568
• As a team the Eagles have batted .270 with runners in scoring position with Lowers leading the way at .500 (6-for-12)
• Junior Madyson Watson has paced the pitching staff with a team-high 24.2 innings pitched and tied for the most wins with two
• Watson has a team-best 1.99 ERA with 23 strikeouts to 11 walks
• Sophomore Logan Webb has split time with Taylor Charlton behind the plate and has seen some time at DP as she has eight hits in eight games played
• Junior Tori Walker is second on the team with 13 hits and leads the team with three doubles

HEAD COACH WINDY THEES

• Head coach Windy Thees is in her first year at Winthrop and in her 15^th season as head coach of a collegiate softball program
• Spent five seasons at Georgia State & College compiling a 163-92 record followed by six years at Memphis (172-151) and three seasons at Ole Miss (69-94)
• In her 15 seasons she's compiled an overall record of 410-341 and a record of 247-249 at the helm of a D1 program
• Led Ole Miss to five wins over nationally-ranked opponents that included a 2-0 victory at #1 Florida in 2014
• In 2003 she led Georgia State & College to a runner-up finish in the Division II National Championship
• Thees was a four-year starter at Florida State as both a catcher and second baseman. 

SCHEDULE

• In the latest national polls, Georgia is ranked 8/9 while South Carolina is ranked 14/15
• Coastal Carolina received votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Poll  
• Eagles have 10 opponents that finished in the Top 100 RPI in 2018 and seven in the Top 75
• There are three opponents that made an NCAA Regional, 11 teams that finished in the Top 3 of their respective conference and five of which played in a conference championship game
• Winthrop had two opponents in the preseason Top 10 with Georgia at 6^th and South Carolina tied for 9^th 

BIG SOUTH PRESEASON POLL
Winthrop was picked to finish 7^th in the Big South Conference despite returning all but one starter and its entire pitching staff. Longwood was picked to finish first, edging out newcomer USC Upstate by eight votes as the favorite. Radford was picked third followed by Campbell, Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb, Winthrop, Hampton and Presbyterian College.
 
UP NEXT
Winthrop will head to Greenville, NC Mar. 1-3 for the Purple-Gold Invitational hosted by East Carolina University. The Eagles will open the invitational with UMASS at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, Mar. 1 and then face the host Pirates at 5:30 p.m.