Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop opens the 2020 season in Birmingham, AL for a tournament at Samford.

 

Winthrop vs. Akron	Friday, Feb. 7, 2:00 p.m.	Live Stats / ESPN3
Winthrop at Samford	Friday, Feb. 7, 6:00 p.m.	Live Stats / ESPN3
Winthrop vs. Akron	Saturday, Feb. 8, 11:00 a.m.	Live Stats / ESPN3
Winthrop vs. Eastern Illinois	Saturday, Feb. 8, 1:30 p.m.	Live Stats / ESPN3
Winthrop vs. Eastern Illinois	Sunday, Feb. 9, 12:00 p.m.	Live Stats / ESPN3

 

 
 
 
 
 


All Times (EST)

ALL-TIME RECORDS vs. OPPONENTS: 4-1 vs. Akron | 3-2 vs. Samford | 2-2 vs. Eastern Illinois
  
SAMFORD TOURNAMENT

• This is the Eagles first trip for a tournament hosted by Samford
• All of the games will be played in Samford Softball Stadium
• Winthrop has faced all three of its opponents in the past, including Akron and Samford as recently as 2018
• It's been since 2011 when the Eagles last faced the Zips

GLANCE AT THE EAGLES

• Winthrop returns six starters that includes Big South All-Conference selections Madyson Watson and Ashley Westbrooks
• Watson is coming off a career season in the circle going 15-5 and finishing with a 2.85 ERA and 120 strikeouts to 43 walks
• Watson also turned in a solid year at the plate with a .299 average to go along with 11 runs, three doubles, three home runs and 16 RBI in 67 at-bats
• Westbrooks had another good year at the plate as she batted .286 with 27 runs, seven doubles, five home runs and a team-high 33 RBI
• In her career she has 94 career RBI as she is looking to become the 10^th player in program history to drive in 100 or more in a career
• Westbrooks is also one double away from becoming the 14^th in program history with 30 or more in a career
• Another returning starter is outfielder Tori Walker, who batted .245 with 35 runs, 11 doubles, five home runs and 18 RBI last season
• Taylor Charlton and Logan Webb return behind the plate
• Charlton made 38 starts in 40 games played between DP and catching duties as she batted .247 with 20 runs, nine doubles and 15 RBI
• Webb started 33-of-37 games played as she hit .233 with eight runs and eight RBI
• Ansley Gilreath returns after starting all 54 games she played at first base
• Gilreath had a career-high 14 runs as well as five doubles, six home runs and 24 RBI
• Winthrop has won seven of its last nine season openers and are 30-16 all-time
• Eagles were voted to finish fourth in the Big South preseason poll, three votes behind Campbell in third

A LOOK BACK AT 2019

• Head coach Windy Thees turned in a good first year for the Eagles, reaching 30 wins for the first time since 2008 when the team was 36-19
• Turned in one of the best offensive seasons in the history of the program ranking in the Top 10 all-time in runs (245-T7th), hits (383-8^th), doubles (72-5^th), home runs (31-7^th), RBI (224-6^th), total bases (572-8^th), and walks (6^th)
• Opened the season with a 7-1 win over Savannah State and was 3-2 after the opening weekend
• After falling to Radford 8-0 on Apr. 6 to drop the series 2-1, Winthrop won five straight and 14 of its final 20 games
• Advanced to the Big South championship game and defeated Longwood 4-3 to force an if necessary game before falling 3-2 (It was the program's 13^th appearance in the Big South title game)
• Won 14 league games, one win shy of tying the program's record of 15 league wins in a single-season
• Eagles were 6-8 in one-run games and 5-5 in two-run games (11-13 combined in games decided by two runs or less)
• When scoring five or more runs the Eagles were an impressive 20-1

HEAD COACH WINDY THEES

• Head coach Windy Thees is in her second at Winthrop and in her 16^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 16 seasons she's compiled an overall record of 434-362 and a record of 271-270 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 seven opponents on the schedule this season that finished in the Top 100 RPI in 2019
• There are four opponents this season that played in the NCAA Regionals last year
• Eight teams the Eagles face finished in the Top 3 of their respective leagues last year and five of them played for a conference championship
• Winthrop has 22 non-conference opponents schedule with just three matchups against teams for the first time (Clemson/Georgetown/Army)

BIG SOUTH PRESEASON POLL
Winthrop was picked 4^th in the Big South Conference preseason poll, three votes behind Campbell in third. Longwood received eight of nine first-place votes followed by USC Upstate which received one first-place vote. Following the Eagles in the poll were Radford, Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb, Hampton, and Presbyterian College. Winthrop finished fourth last season at 14-10 while Campbell finished a half-game ahead at 14-9.
 
UP NEXT
Following the opening weekend the Eagles will open their home schedule next weekend by hosting a tournament starting Friday, Feb. 14 with games against Eastern Kentucky at 3 p.m. and Virginia at 5:30 p.m.
 
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