Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop softball heads down I-77 Wednesday evening to take on 16^th-ranked South Carolina in a midweek matchup.
 
Game Info: Winthrop at South Carolina | Columbia, SC | Mar. 11, 2020 | 6 p.m. | Beckham Field (map)
Live Stats: Statbroadcast
Live Video: SECNetwork+
Stats: Winthrop | South Carolina
Social: @Winthropsoftbal | #ROCKtheHILL | #EverStand

WINTHROP EAGLES
Record: 12-10
Coach: Windy Thees
Career Record/Years: 446-372/16^th season
 
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS
Record: 16-6
Coach: Beverly Smith
Career Record/Years: 332-221/10^th season
 
SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA

• Gamecocks are ranked 16^th in the latest USA Today/NFCA Coaches Top 25 Poll and 17^th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25
• Coming off a 10-2 win over Coastal Carolina at home Tuesday afternoon
• Hold a 13-1 mark at home this season with the lone loss coming Feb. 29 to Troy
• Haley Simpson leads the team with a .367 average and is 7-for-7 stealing bases
• Katie Prebble, a former Big South Conference Freshman of the Year at Gardner-Webb, leads the team with six homeruns and 25 RBI
• Prebble is 1-of-7 players on the team with 10 or more RBI

GLANCE AT THE EAGLES

• This is the 70^th meeting between the two teams as South Carolina leads the all-time series 59-10-1
• Gamecocks have won 11 straight meetings with Winthrop's last win coming Feb. 16, 2011 (5-2)
• Ansley Gilreath leads the team with a .391 average and had a 13-game hitting streak snapped in the loss to Rider
• Ashley Westbrooks leads the team with 17 RBI and Taylor Charlton is second with 16
• Westbrooks also leads the team with runs with 21, doubles with five and tied for the team lead in homeruns with three
• Eagles have won four of the last six games  

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 446-372 and a record of 283-280 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

RECORD BOOK WATCH

• Senior Ashley Westbrooks is inking her name into several All-Time Top 10 categories in program history
• After the weekend in D.C., Westbrooks now has 111 in her career which ranks 7^th all-time
• Westbrooks is 14^th on the all-time hit list with 173
• She now has 34 doubles after last weekend, which ranks is tied for 8^th
• She is also tied for 7^th in career home runs with 20 along with Gilreath
• Ansley Gilreath is moving up the all-time RBI list and reached 100 career hits recently (114)
• Gilreath has 78 RBI in her career and looks to become the 19^th Winthrop player to reach 80 in a career

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
The Eagles have a quick turnaround as they will head to Clearwater, Fla. for the Clearwater Spring Break Invitational Mar. 13-15 as they'll open up Friday at noon against Army and then UT-Chattanooga at 2:30 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.