Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop softball looks to end a two-game skid as it travels to league-leading USC Upstate for a weekend series Apr. 1-2.
WINTHROP at USC UPSTATE
WHERE: Spartanburg, S.C. |
Cyrill Stadium
WHEN: Friday, Apr. 1, 4 p.m. / 6 p.m. (doubleheader) | Saturday, Apr. 2, 1 p.m.
RECORDS: Winthrop (11-21, 5-4 Big South) / USC Upstate (31-3, 7-2 Big South)
LIVE STATS: Sidearm |
LIVE VIDEO: None
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Winthrop and USC Upstate have met 15 times
- The Spartans lead the all-time series 9-6
- Eagles took the series against Upstate in 2021, earning wins of 2-1 and 5-2
- Eagles have dropped two straight league contests and currently tied for 3rd best league record at 5-4 with Campbell
- Face a Spartans teams sporting a 23-3 record at home this season
- Batting .258 (4th in Big South) as a team and scoring 3.9 runs per game (4th in Big South)
- Ranked 3rd in the league in on-base percentage (.365)
- Eagles and Spartans are the top two teams stealing bases in the league
- Upstate currently sits first at 2.2 per game while the Eagles are 2nd at 2.18 per game
- Macy McCall leads the team with 19 stolen bases and ranks second in the league behind Upstate's Sarah Price
- Ashton Vanhouse is third in the league with 16 steals and Paige Rivas is 7th with 13
- McCall leads the Eagles with 30 runs, one behind Upstate's Madison Lanoux for the league lead
- Junior outfielder Paige Rivas leads the team in batting (.368) and ranks 8th in the league
- McCall is now second on the team with a .313 average as she's 9-for-17 at the plate in the last five games
- Eagles feature a trio of starters in the circle with freshmen Reese Basinger and Sydney Boulware and junior Bella Roy
- Basinger leads the team with 12 starts, Boulware has 11 and Roy with eight
- Basinger and Boulware are tied for the most wins with four each while Roy has three
- Boulware is 4th in the league in strikeouts with 94 while Basinger is 7th with 74
LOOKING BACK AT 2021
- Eagles are coming off a 26-24 campaign in which the team won six out of the final eight games of 2021
- In 2021 the Eagles as a team finished with the 4th most homeruns (49) and stolen bases (88) in a single-season in program history
- The team set the program single-season mark for hit-by-pitch and the 5th best on-base percentage
- Return 12 players from last year's team while welcoming nine newcomers
- Among the departed are Big South All-Conference performers Ansley Gilreath, Ashley Westbrooks and Madyson Watson
- Westbrooks and Gilreath combined for 67 doubles, 59 homeruns, 251 RBI and 135 walks in their careers
- Watson was the ace in the pitching circle and also did damage at the plate with 17 runs, seven homeruns, and an on-base percentage of .354
- Also gone is catcher Taylor Charlton, who batted .283 with 12 homeruns and 31 RBI
- One of the top returning players is junior Macy McCall, who set the program record for stolen bases in a season with 48
- Her 48 stolen bases were also ranked 2nd in the nation (NCAA D1)
- McCall led the Big South Conference in runs with 43 and her .362 average was second-best in the league
- Other returning starters include Kaitlyn Tucker, Lauren King, and Bailey Warren
- Tucker was 1-of-3 players on the team in 2021 to appear in all 50 games (49 starts) as she made 48 starts at short
- King made 27 starts at second, 16 at third and was 1-of-5 players with 21 or more RBI (21)
- Warren spread out her 44 starts between catcher, left field, right field and the designated player
- Tucker and Warren were both named to the Big South All-Freshman Team
- Warren was second behind McCall in stolen bases with 14 (14-for-15)
- The Eagles were voted 4th in the Big South Conference Preseason Poll
HEAD COACH WINDY THEES
- Head coach Windy Thees is in her fourth season at Winthrop and in her 17th season as head coach of a collegiate softball program
- Has a record of 79-81 overall and 30-24 in the Big South in her time with Winthrop
- 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 481-417 and a record of 319-327 at the helm of a D1 program
- In her first season with the Eagles the team earned 30 wins, which are the second-most for a first-year head coach in program history
- In her first season she also guided the team to the Big South Conference Tournament Championship game, falling in the if necessary game to Longwood
- 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
BIG SOUTH WEEKLY HONORS
- Bailey Warren, So., DP/C (Mar. 14)
- Warren batted .626 with five runs, two home runs, three RBI and was 5-for-5 on the bases in the series sweep of N.C. A&T
- Warren also had an on-base percentage of .750 and 1.375 slugging percentage
- Went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI in the series opener against the Aggies
- Went 2-for-3 with three steals and a home run in the finale
RECORD BOOK WATCH
- McCall's single-season record of 46 stolen bases in her first year with the Eagles has her 3rd all-time in program history
- McCall now has 65 career stolen bases as an Eagle and is closing in on the program record of 71 held by Charlene Smith (1989-92)
- If McCall can match her run total of 43 from last season, she'll pull within 25 runs of the program's all-time Top 10
- McCall in her career is closing in on 100 runs (90) and has 80 career stolen bases
- She surpassed 100 hits in her career earlier this season and now has 115
UP NEXT
Winthrop will be on the road in Columbia, S.C. on Wednesday, Apr. 6 as it takes on South Carolina at 6 p.m.
For everything Winthrop softball visit
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