ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop softball wraps-up the regular season this week with a single-midweek contest at UNC Greensboro and a three-game series at Charleston Southern.    
 
AT UNC GREENSBORO
WHERE: Greensboro, NC (UNCG Softball Stadium / 500)
WHEN: Wednesday, May 1, 4 p.m.
RECORDS: Winthrop (23-22, 12-9 Big South) | UNC Greensboro (28-19, 10-4 Southern)
LIVE STATS: Statbroadcast
LIVE VIDEO: None
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal 
 
AT CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
WHERE: N. Charleston, SC (CSU Softball Complex / 250)
WHEN: Thursday, May 2, 3/5 p.m. | Friday, May 3, 3 p.m.
RECORDS: Winthrop (23-22, 12-9 Big South) | Charleston Southern (17-32, 11-10 Big South)
LIVE STATS: Game 1 / Game 2 / Game 3
LIVE VIDEO: None
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal 

SERIES HISTORY
vs. UNC Greensboro

• Eagles and Spartans face off for the 29^th time and the first time since Mar. 3, 2017
• The last time these two teams met the Spartans scored four runs in the first two innings on their way to a 4-3 victory
• Prior to that the Eagles had won three straight in the series 

vs. Charleston Southern

• Winthrop and Charleston Southern have met 109 times with the Eagles holding a 73-36 lead in the all-time series
• The Eagles captured the series against the Bucs in 2018 with wins of 6-5, 6-3 while dropping one game 5-2
• The last road series at Charleston Southern the Eagles won the opener 6-3 before falling 4-0 and 6-4
• Over the last eight meetings each team has won four times 

 
A LOOK AT THE SPARTANS

• Have won three straight after sweeping Mercer on the road this past weekend but have dropped four straight at home
• One of the top power teams in the country, ranked 39^th nationally in home runs per game (1.09)
• Averaging 4.66 runs per game while allowing 4.06
• Led offensively by Marisa Sholtes with a .311 average, 23 runs, 10 doubles, 13 homeruns, and 35 RBI
• Delaney Cumbie leads the team with a .339 average and has 27 runs, 10 doubles, five homeruns and 25 RBI
• Stephanie Bryden and Kylie Bouplon make up the starting pitching rotation combining for 42 starts in 47 games
• Bryden leads the team with a 2.70 ERA and is 20-10 with 206 strikeouts to 39 walks
• Bryden ranks 19^th in the nation in strikeouts, 30^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio and 42^nd in strikeouts per seven innings
• Bouplon is 7-7 with a 3.14 ERA and 78 strikeouts to 30 walks

 
A LOOK AT THE BUCANEERS

• Coming off a 10-3 win against Gardner-Webb and currently sitting sixth in the Big South Conference standings
• Have lost four of the last five games and looking to claim first series win since sweeping Presbyterian College in late March
• Before the stretch of losing 4-of-5, the Bucs had won 7-of-8 that included six straight wins
• Rank 8^th in the Big South with a .254 team batting average and 7^th with a team ERA of 4.26
• Annie Bakenhus has a team-high .340 average to go along with 28 runs, nine doubles and 21 RBI
• Jade Gandara leads the team with 30 RBI while Caitlyn Emerson is second with 28 RBI and a team-high seven homers
• Arizona Pilgrim leads the pitching staff at 10-18 with a 3.66 ERA and 111 strikeouts and 103 walks
• Holly Clark has 19 starts and is 6-12 with a 4.98 ERA and 80 strikeouts to 44 walks

 
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES

• Coming off a series win over USC Upstate and have won two straight as well as seven of the last 10
• Eagles have won three straight series and four of the last five
• Head into the final weekend sitting in a tie for third in the Big South Conference standings with Radford at 12-9
• Rank 6^th in the Big South with a .268 team batting average and 5^th with a 4.09 ERA
• In conference games only the Eagles team ERA is down to 3.11
• Morgan Lowers, who reach 200 career hits in the series vs. Upstate, leads the team with a .350 average and 34 runs to go along with eight doubles and 20 RBI
• Ashley Westbrooks is averaging .317 with 25 runs, six doubles, five homeruns and a team-high 32 RBI
• Westbrooks has also reached base in 21 straight games
• Madyson Watson leads the pitching staff with a 2.75 ERA and 12-4 record with 104 strikeouts to 37 walks in 124.2 innings
• Watson is undefeated at 8-0 in league play with a 1.98 ERA and 36 strikeouts to 15 walks in 60 innings of work
• Over the last 10 games Watson is 4-1 in the circle and is batting .400 with four runs, a double, two homers and four RBI
• In that stretch Westbrooks and Blake Wallert each have seven RBI while Wallert also scored eight times
• Lowers has 11 career games against Charleston Southern and in those games is 14-for-38 (.368) with three runs and three RBI
• Lowers was 0-for-3 in her first game against the Bucs, but has at least one hit in 10 straight games
• Westbrooks has hit in seven straight against the Bucs and is 12-for-26 (.462) with nine runs, two doubles, two homeruns, two stolen bases and seven RBI (eight career games)

 
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 427-359 and a record of 260-267 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 14^th in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll while South Carolina is ranked 16^th
• Despite losing the series to the Eagles last week, USC Upstate received a vote in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25
• Currently the Eagles have seven opponents in the Top 125 of RPI and four in the Top 75
• There are 10 opponents that have a winning record and 12 at .500 or better as of Apr. 30

 
EAGLES AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS

• Brooke Ellison enters the week ranked 7^th nationally in triples and 10^th in triples per game
• Keleigh Romine and Ashley Westbrooks entered the week 30^th in the country in sacrifice flies
• Romine is also ranked 52^nd in walks (.67 per game)
• Eagles as a team rank 46^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.42)

 
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 have four days off in preparation for the 2019 Big South Conference Championship presented by Musco Sports Lighting on the campus of Campbell University in Buies Creek, NC.
 
For everything Winthrop softball visit www.winthropeagles.com or follow us on social media @Winthropsoftbal, winthropsoftball (Instagram) or www.facebook.com/Winthrop-Softball.