Birmingham, Ala.— It was a good opening day for Winthrop softball as it earned a 5-3 win over Akron to start the day and then rallied for an 8-5 win at Samford, Friday at the Samford Tournament.
GAME INFORMATION
RECORDS: Winthrop (2-2) | Akron (1-2) | Eastern Illinois (2-1)
WINTHROP LEADERS: Madyson Watson (7IP, 5H, 0ER, 2BB, 9K) |
Ansley Gilreath (1-for-2, R, HR, RBI, HBP, BB) |
Ashley Westbrooks (2-for-5, R, BB)
WHAT HAPPENED
vs. Akron
- Eagles jumped on Akron in the bottom of the first with three runs for the early lead
- Tori Walker drew a leadoff walk and moved to second as Lauren King reached on an error trying to move the runner over with a sacrifice
- Ashley Westbrooks followed with a laser to second that the second baseman dropped to her knees and slid to prevent the ball from going into the outfield
- The ball bounced off the second baseman and toward the outfield as Walker hustled home beating a high through into the backstop that allowed King to move to third and Westbrooks to second
- With one away Taylor Charlton lined one to right center that was caught, but King came home for a 2-0 lead
- A.G. Gardner followed with an RBI single to make it 3-0
- Akron got on the board in the 3rd inning as Sydney Jascoe walked with one out and Jessie Holzman doubled to plate Jascoe from first
- With two away in the fourth, Akron manufactured three runs to take a 4-3 lead
- The first came on a double by Bailey Drapola and then a line shot to center tied the game at 3-3
- Zips took a 4-3 lead on a fly ball to left that Walker looked to have a beat on but the ball was off her glove and Jascoe scored from second
- Akron's offense didn't let up as it managed two more in the fifth and then five runs in the sixth
- Bella Roy started the game and later returned in relief but didn't factor into the decision as she allowed one run on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts in 3.1 innings
Game 2
vs. Eastern Illinois
- Ansley Gilreath gave Winthrop an early lead as she led off the second inning with a home run, he second of the season
- Walker led off the third inning looking to help add to the lead, but the Eagles were a bit unfortunate
- King lined one toward first and Walker quickly realized that the first baseman was going to make the catch and was just a half step late getting back to the back on the force out for the double play
- In the sixth inning, Watson struck out the first batter and then walked the next
- Watson then struck out the next batter for the second out but Eastern Illinois took advantage of back-to-back errors to take the lead
- The first came on a single to left that was misplayed by Walker, allowing the runner to score all the way from first
- Then the next batter hit a soft liner to short that was misplayed off the short hop and the go-ahead run crossed the plate
- Watson took the loss after allowing two unearned runs on five hits with two walks and tied career-high of nine strikeouts
EXTRA BASES
- In the loss to Akron the Eagles allowed eight runs with two outs
- Charlton's hit in the first game against Akron extended her hitting streak to five games dating back to last season
- Westbrooks extended her hitting streak to four games and now has 154 in her career, moving into 20th on the program's all-time list
- Gilreath had an RBI against Eastern Illinois and is off to a hot start this season at the plate
- Gilreath is 6-for-9 with three runs and five RBI
ON DECK
Eagles wrap-up the weekend on Sunday with a single game as they'll face Eastern Illinois at noon.
