Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop softball hits the road for its final Big South Conference series at Radford this weekend as the regular season concludes. The three-game series will begin on Friday as the team that claims the series will get the fourth spot for next week's Big South Conference Tournament.     
 
WINTHROP at RADFORD
WHERE: Radford, Va. | Radford Softball Stadium
WHEN: Saturday, May 8, 1 p.m. (single-game) | Sunday, May 9, 1 p.m. (doubleheader)
RECORDS: Winthrop (25-22, 10-8 Big South) / Radford (19-29, 9-9 Big South)
LIVE STATS: Sidearm
LIVE VIDEO: none
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal
 
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES

• Have won four straight games and five of the last six games
• In the month of April the Eagles were 11-5 with two of the losses at nationally-ranked Clemson
• In April the pitching staff as a whole posted a 2.30 ERA
• Madyson Watson finished the month at 8-1 with a 2.20 ERA and 47 strikeouts to 12 walks
• Aisha Weixlman was 2-2 with a 1.27 ERA and 23 strikeouts to seven walks
• Watson is seventh in the league in ERA (2.84) and Weixlmann ranks 10^th (3.42)
• Watson continues to lead the league in strikeouts (180) and strikeouts per game among every pitcher in the league that's thrown at least 100 innings (7.75)
• Watson's 15 victories are second in the conference while Weixlmann is tied for 7^th with seven wins
• Macy McCall is 4^th in the league with a .370 batting average and Ansley Gilreath is 7^th with a .353 average
• McCall leads the league with 40 runs and 41 stolen bases as well as on-base percentage (.497)
• McCall broke into the Big South Conference single-season Top 10 for stolen bases as she's tied for 10^th with 41
• Gilreath leads the league in homeruns, slugging percentage, RBI and total bases
• Gilreath is trying to become the first Winthrop player to lead the Big South in RBI since Mallory Hogan did so in 2008
• On the year Gilreath has 40 RBI, which is tied
• Taylor Charlton has moved into second in the league in total homeruns, one behind Gilreath with 11
• In the month of April Charlton batted .325 with 11 runs, six homeruns and 17 RBI (16 games) and had an on-base percentage of .451
• Freshman Kaitlyn Tucker batted .295 with seven runs, seven extra base hits, and eight RBI in 16 games in April
• Tucker was recently tabbed the Big South Conference Player of the Week

HEAD COACH WINDY THEES

• Head coach Windy Thees is in her third season at Winthrop and in her 17^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 17 seasons she's compiled an overall record of 471-395 and a record of 308-303 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

• Westbrooks now has 131 career RBI, which is tied for 3^rd on the all-time list
• She needs 14 to become the all-time leader in RBI at Winthrop
• Gilreath now has 118 career RBI and is all alone in 7^th all-time
• Gilreath is 2^nd on the all-time homerun list with 32 while Westbrooks is now all alone in 4^th  with 26
• With 71 career walks, Gilreath is 5^th all-time while Westbrooks has 64 career walks and is 7^th all-time
• Westbrooks is 7^th on the all-time hit list with 201 (10 back of 5^th)
• Westbrooks is also moving up the ranks in doubles with 40 in her career, which is tied for 5^th
• Watson broke into the program's Top 10 for career wins and reached 300 career strikeouts in the win over Furman
• She then became the 8^th player in program history to reach 400 career strikeouts
• Watson is now 7^th all-time in strikeouts with 441 and ranks 7^th in career wins with 45

SEASON HONORS
Taylor Charlton – Big South Conference Player of the Week (Apr. 5)
Ansley Gilreath – Big South Conference Player of the Week (Feb. 15, Mar. 8)
Kaitlyn Tucker – Big South Conference Player of the Week (Apr. 26)
Madyson Watson – Big South Conference Player of the Week (Feb. 22) / Big South Pitcher of the Week (Mar. 1)
Aisha Weixlmann – Big South Conference Pitcher of the Week (Apr. 12)
 
ON DECK
The regular season comes to an end after the series at Radford with the Top 4 teams in the conference standings advancing to the Big South Conference Tournament (May 13-15).
For everything Winthrop softball visit www.winthropeagles.com or follow us on social media @Winthropsoftbal, winthropsoftball (Instagram) or www.facebook.com/Winthrop-Softball.