ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop softball looks to keep its momentum going as it heads to Hampton for a three-game weekend Big South Conference series Apr. 13-14.   
 
WHERE: Hampton, VA (Lady Pirates Softball Stadium)
WHEN: Saturday, Apr. 13, 12/2 p.m. | Sunday, Apr. 14, 1 p.m.
RECORDS: Winthrop (19-19, 8-7 Big South) | Hampton (20-14, 4-8 Big South)
LIVE STATS: Game 1 / Game 2 / Game 3
LIVE VIDEO: Game 1 / Game 2 / Game 3
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal 
 
SERIES HISTORY

• Winthrop and Hampton have only met twice and those two contests were over 20 years ago
• The two teams split a doubleheader on Mar. 3, 1996 

A LOOK AT THE PIRATES

• Have won two of the last three games coming into the series
• Split a doubleheader at home on Wednesday against Norfolk State winning 4-3 and falling 2-1
• Have played 25-of-34 games this season at home and are 16-9 at Lady Pirates Softball Stadium
• Currently seventh in the Big South standings
• Ranked fourth in the league in team ERA (3.47) and 5^th in team batting average (.279)
• Second in the Big South in stolen bases with 93 (93-of-110)
• Led by Taylor Warrick's .385 average as she also leads the team in doubles, triples, homeruns and RBI
• DaSha Hill is batting .305 with 24 runs and leads the team with 24 stolen bases
• There are three pitchers that have done the bulk of the work this season led by Emily Workman's 1.92 ERA
• Workman is 5-1 with seven starts and has 17 strikeouts and 14 walks
• Allyson Babinsack has the most starts with 14 and is 5-6 with a 4.01 ERA with 37 strikeouts to 23 walks
• Allie Hotetz is 10-7 in 13 starts with a 3.49 ERA and 48 strikeouts to 32 walks
• This season the Pirates are 5-3 in one-run games 

GLANCE AT THE EAGLES

• Coming off a series sweep of PC this past week behind two shutouts as the Eagles have won three straight and six of the last nine games
• Eagles are currently 5^th in the league standings
• Madyson Watson, who started the year 0-2, is 10-1 since and is coming off two shutout performances against the Blue Hose
• Watson tossed a four-hit shutout against PC in the series opener and then a two-hit shutout to close out the series and earn the sweep
• Over the last 19 innings pitched, Watson has allowed a run or issued a walk and given up 13 hits
• Watson's 2.19 ERA ranks 4^th in the league (third among pitchers with 100 or more innings) and her 10 wins are tied for 6^th
• Morgan Lowers leads the Eagles with a .363 average and tied for the team lead with 30 runs
• Lowers now has 195 career hits as she's one behind Laura Hill for 9^th as she's looking to become the 8^th play in program history to reach 200 hits
• One more double for Lowers and she'll become the 13^th player in program history with 30 or more in a career
• Over the last five games Ashley Westbrooks is batting .438 with four runs and two RBI while Watson is batting .500 (5-for-10) with two runs and three RBI
• Tori Walker leads the team in RBI in the last five games with six and Keleigh Romine has three runs and four RBI in that span
• Looking for 10 or more Big South wins in a season since the 2015 team finished 14-9, which is also the last time the Eagles finished above .500 in league play 

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 423-356 and a record of 260-263 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

• 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 
• Georgia is ranked 13^th while South Carolina is ranked 16^th in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll
• Currently the Eagles have eight opponents in the Top 125 of RPI and six in the Top 70
• There are 11 opponents that have a winning record as of Apr. 7 

EAGLES AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS

• Brooke Ellison entered the week ranked 7^th nationally in triples and 14^th in triples per game
• She could possibly move up when next week's rankings come out as she hit her 6^th of the season in the 5-0 win over PC on Wednesday
• Keleigh Romine entered the week ranked 25^th nationally in walks 

ROY TABBED BIG SOUTH FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Bella Roy has been named the Big South Conference Freshman of the Week, announced by the league office Monday afternoon. With the Gardner-Webb series tied 1-1, Roy got the ball in the circle and delivered a one-hit shutout in a 5-0 win. Roy went the distance allowing the one hit over seven innings while walking three and tying a career-best 11 strikeouts. She lost her no-hit bid in the sixth inning with one out but not without the full effort of the defense behind her as left fielder Tori Walker made a diving attempt to make the catch but just missed. Entering the weekend the Runnin' Bulldogs were the Big South's top scoring team at 6.3 runs per game and had only been shut out twice all season (vs. Loyola-Chicago and #15 Texas Tech). Since the weekly honor for freshmen was created in 2017, Roy is just the second Winthrop player to earn the honor as Ashley Westbrooks did so Feb. 20, 2017.
 
WESTBROOKS NAMED BIG SOUTH PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ashley Westbrooks was tabbed the Big South Conference Player of the Week on Mar. 25. The junior third baseman finished the weekend series with Binghamton 6-for-10 with four runs, a double, four homeruns, and 12 RBI. She hit three of her homeruns on Saturday to help lead the Eagles to a doubleheader sweep to take the series 2-1. In the first game of the doubleheader Westbrooks hit two homeruns to finish with a career-high seven RBI. In the third inning she hit a three-run homerun to cut the Bearcats lead to 5-3 and then hit a grand slam for an 8-5 lead in the fourth inning. In the second game of the doubleheader she hit a two-run homer to give the Eagles a 7-2 lead in the sixth inning. The 12 RBI in the series pushed her career total to 85, becoming the 16^th player in program history to reach 80 or more in a career.
 
ROMINE NAMED BIG SOUTH PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Keleigh Romine was named the Big South Conference Player of the Week on Feb. 11. Romine had an impressive opening weekend as she led the team in batting at .571 and tied for team-high eight hits. She had an impressive on-base percentage of .714 and reached base in all five games. Romine began the weekend 2-for-2 with a run, RBI and two walks in the season opening win over Savannah State. In the third game of the weekend she started in the circle and allowed no runs on three hits with two walks and six strikeouts to earn the win. In the same game she had an RBI single in the 3^rd inning for a 1-0 lead. Against Georgia Southern she tied a career-best of three hits to help the Eagles earn a 10-7 win over the host of the tournament. She got the Eagles in front in the first inning with an RBI single to right center and tied the game at 4-4 later on a ground rule double.
 
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
Eagles will step away from conference action as they'll host Western Carolina for a doubleheader on Wednesday, Apr. 17 at 4 p.m.
 
For everything Winthrop softball visit www.winthropeagles.com or follow us on social media @Winthropsoftbal, winthropsoftball (Instagram) or www.facebook.com/Winthrop-Softball.