ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop softball will host Presbyterian College in a midweek three-game Big South Conference series Apr. 10-11.   
 
WHERE: Rock Hill, SC (Terry Field / 500)
WHEN: Tuesday, Apr. 10, 4/6 p.m. | Wednesday, Apr. 11, 6 p.m.
RECORDS: Winthrop (16-19, 5-7 Big South) | Presbyterian College (10-29-2, 0-12 Big South)
LIVE STATS: Game 1 / Game 2 / Game 3
LIVE VIDEO: NONE
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal 
 
SERIES HISTORY

• Winthrop and Presbyterian College have met 33 times with the Eagles leading the all-time series 20-13
• Eagles have won two straight series and four of the last five
• In the last 19 meetings, nine of the matchups have been decided by two runs or less 

A LOOK AT THE BLUE HOSE

• Have lost nine straight and coming off 8-3 loss to Charleston Southern on Apr. 3 as they had this past weekend off
• Averaging 3.4 runs per game and allowing 5.6 runs per game
• Ansley Wilbanks leads the team in batting at .370 with a team-high 23 runs and second in RBI with 18
• Kiley Kross leads the team with 19 RBI while Jonnie Petree is tied with Wilbanks in runs and leads the team with 27 stolen bases
• Pitching staff is led by starters Alyssa Batastini and Taylor Ward
• Batastini is 6-18 with a 4.32 ERA with 48 strikeouts to 59 walks
• Ward is 4-10 with a 4.99 ERA and 28 strikeouts to 41 walks 

GLANCE AT THE EAGLES

• Looking to capture a second straight home conference series as they won the Gardner-Webb series 2-1 Mar. 29-30
• Coming off a 2-1 series loss at Radford this past weekend but have won four of the last five games at home
• Morgan Lowers was 7-for-12 at the plate in the Radford series to boost her team-best batting average up to .374
• Lowers has 191 career hits (10^th all-time at Winthrop) and is now five hits away from her single-season best of 51 set in her freshman season
• Lowers also leads the team with 29 runs and is tied for second with 18 RBI
• Ashley Westbrooks leads the team in RBI with 25 and also homeruns with five
• Westbrooks was 7-for-11 at the plate against Radford is now batting .327, which is the third best average on the team
• Blake Wallert was batting .275 on Mar. 22 and has pushed her average to .338 since then
• Wallert's .338 average is second best on the team as she had an eight-game hitting streak that came to an end in the final game of the Radford series
• Wallert has 10 RBI in the last five games with five extra base hits in that stretch
• Madyson Watson's win at Radford was earned in relief as she tossed the final seven innings of the 11 inning victory over the Highlanders
• Watson allowed no runs on five hits in the seven relief innings to improve to 8-3
• Watson's 2.55 ERA ranks fourth in the Big South as she's struck out 74 while issuing 30 walks
• In six league appearances Watson is 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA
• Over the last five games in which Watson has made an appearance at the plate she's gone 6-for-12 with five runs and six RBI
• Westbrooks leads the team in batting in league play with a .387 average while Wallert leads the way in RBI with 10 in just nine league games played 

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 420-356 and a record of 257-264 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 12^th while South Carolina is ranked 17^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 is ranked 7^th nationally in triples and 14^th in triples per game
• Keleigh Romine ranks 25^th nationally in walks and also leads the Big South 

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 hit the road Apr. 13-14 as they head to Hampton, VA to take on Hampton in a weekend series with a doubleheader on Saturday, Apr. 13 at noon and a single-game on Sunday, Apr. 14 at 1 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.