Statesboro, Ga. —  The Winthrop softball team had a strong showing at the plate on Saturday tallying 22 hits on the day and 23 runs outscoring their opponents with ease. The Eagles opened the day with a 14-3 win over Georgia Southern and then in the evening defeated College of Charleston 9-0.

Ansley Gilreath led the Eagles with six hits and 11 RBI as well as two home runs and the second being a walk-off to defeat the Cougars in five innings.

GAME INFORMATION
RECORDS: Winthrop (9-8) | Georgia Southern (4-8) | College of Charleston (2-8)
WINTHROP LEADERS: Ansley Gilreath (6-for-9, 3 R, 2B, 2 HR, 11 RBI), Macy McCall (4-for-6, 6 R, 3 BB, RBI, 4 SB)
WHAT HAPPENED
 vs Georgia Southern

• Macy McCall led the game off drawing a walk on four straight balls and then stole second
• Madyson Watson walked two batters later and then Ansley Gilreath hit one in right center for a double to score two runs
• Gilreath then advanced to third on a wild pitch and crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly from Ashley Westbrooks
• Georgia Southern loaded the bases in the bottom of the first, but a solid defense from the Eagles got them out of the inning without yielding a run
• Keeping things going in the second, Vianna Rodriguez led-off with a walk, moved over on a bunt single from Ashton Vanhouse
• McCall loaded the bases on an infield single and then Rodriguez scored on a sacrifice fly by Lauren King
• Bottom of the third Georgia Southern scored its first run with a solo homerun off the bat of Faith Shirley with one out
• Getting things started in the fifth Kaitlyn Tucker led off the inning with a stand-up double
• Westbrooks drove Tucker home with a double and advanced to third on a throwing error
• With one out Vianna Rodriguez was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a single by Makayla Cyzick that also scored Westbrooks for a 6-1 lead
• King and Watson had back-to-back RBI singles to bring in two more runs and push the lead to 8-1
• The bats remained hot as Gilreath singled to center field with bases loaded to score McCall and then Kaitlyn Tucker drew a bases loaded walk to score King for the sixth run of the inning
• Winthrop added four more runs in the seventh inning highlighted by a three-run homerun by Gilreath
• Cyzick tossed her first complete game to earn her first collegiate victory after allowing three runs on eight hits with three walks and four strikeouts

 vs College of Charleston

• Watson walked the leadoff batter in the first, but Taylor Charlton gunned the runner trying to steal second and Watson proceeded to get the next two batters out
• Back-to-back walks from McCall and King to start to bottom half of the first helped get the Eagles an early lead as Watson singled to left center to score McCall
• With one out in the second, Ashton Vanhouse dropped down a bunt single followed by McCall reaching on an error and two batters later Watson walked to load the bases
• Gilreath came through again with her fourth hit of the day as she singled up the middle to score McCall and Vanhouse
• Eagles get bases loaded with a hit by pitch from Kaitlyn Tucker and back-to-back walks from Ashton Vanhouse and Macy McCall but are stranded there
• In the 5^th, Winthrop put up six runs to end the game in five innings due to the 8-run rule
• Cougars posed a threat when they get a pair of singles in the top of the fifth but Watson got the third out on a called third strike, her 8^th strikeout of the game
• With runners on first and second and one out, McCall singled to plate Rodriguez
• McCall stole second, King walked and Watson singled to center to score Vanhouse and McCall and put the Eagles up 6-0
• Gilreath hit her second home run of the day with a walk-off three-run homerun to take down of the Cougars in five innings

EXTRA BASES

• McCall has extended her streak to 17 straight games of reaching base
• McCall also finished with three steals in the game against Georgia Southern and finished with four on the day as she has 15 on the season (four away from cracking the single-season Top 10)
• Today's 9-0 win gave Madyson Watson her first shut out of the season as she allowed just four hits and struck out nine with two walks
• Gilreath became the first player in program history to have two seasons with 10 or more homeruns
• Gilreath also became the 11^th player in program history to reach 100 RBI in a career and she now ranks 9^th all-time with 104
• Gilreath is now tied with Janiva Willis for second all-time in homeruns with 30
• Westbrooks moved within an RBI of moving into 6^th all-time
• Winthrop as a team batted .600 with runners in scoring position on the day (15-for-25)

ON DECK
Winthrop will take on College of Charleston again Sunday morning at 10:40 a.m. to close out the Eagle Round Robin. The game was originally scheduled for 10 a.m. but will start 40 minutes later due to cold weather.