Rock Hill, S.C.— Riding a four-game winning streak, Winthrop softball is on the road for a second straight series as it visits Presbyterian College.
WINTHROP at PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE
WHERE: Clinton, S.C. | PC Softball Complex
WHEN: Saturday, Apr. 23, 12 p.m./2 p.m. (doubleheader) | Sunday, Apr. 24, 1 p.m.
RECORDS: Winthrop (17-27, 10-8 Big South) / Presbyterian College (27-11, 12-6 Big South)
LIVE STATS: Game 1 /
Game 2 /
Game 3 |
LIVE VIDEO (ESPN+): None
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Winthrop has won four straight games, including three in a row in league play
- Coming off a road sweep at Gardner-Webb to capture their second conference series
- Sitting in 5th place in the league standings
- Have faced PC 39 times and hold an all-time mark of 26-13 in the series
- Eagles swept the Blue Hose last season in Rock Hill and have now won seven straight meetings
- Earned a series win in their last trip to Clinton, taking the final game 4-1 with three runs in the top of the seventh
- Eagles captured their first Big South series last weekend against Charleston Southern and are sitting in 5th place in the league standings
- Batting .253 as a team, 4th in the Big South
- As a team the Eagles have been hit-by-pitch 37 times, which is the third-most in a single-season by a Winthrop team
- The Eagles in 2021 set the program record with 39 HBP
- Winthrop leads the league in walks (134) and is 3rd in on-base percentage (.353)
- Rank second in the league with 85 stolen bases, which are the 6th most by a Winthrop team in a single-season
- Macy McCall leads the team with 21 while Ashton Vanhouse and Paige Rivas are second with 19
- McCall is second in the Big South in steals while Vanhouse and Rivas rank 3rd
- McCall is third in doubles with 10 while Kaitlyn Tucker is 8th with nine
- Paige Rivas has a nine-game hitting streak and currently sits 5th in the league with a .375 average
- McCall is 7th in the league in on-base percentage (.427) while Paige Rivas is 9th at .424
- King has been hit by a pitch 15 times this season, tied for second-most in a single-season (18 is the record set by Sarah Magee in 2007)
- Freshmen Reese Basinger and Sydney Boulware make up the starting rotation, combining for 34 starts
- Basinger has won five straight starts and is coming off back-to-back shutouts (hasn't allowed a run in the last 13 innings and only one in the last 19
- Boulware earned her last win in relieve after tossing six innings in a win at Gardner-Webb
- Boulware ranks 5th in the league in strikeouts (111) and Basinger is 8th with 103
- Boulware is 4th in strikeouts per game (8.67)
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 85-86 overall and 35-28 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 489-424 and a record of 326-332 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
- Macy McCall, Jr.., OF (Mar. 18)
- Batted .438 with six runs, a home run, five walks and two stolen bases in five games
- In the Gardner-Webb series she batted .500 as she started off the series 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI
- Reese Basinger, Fr.., RHP (Mar. 18)
- Went 3-0 on the week with a 0.37 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 19 innings of work
- She tossed shutouts in back-to-back starts in the Gardner-Webb series
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 67 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 (99) and has 82 career stolen bases
- She surpassed 100 hits in her career earlier this season and now has 129
UP NEXT
Winthrop remains on the road as it will travel to Mt. Pleasant, S.C. for a doubleheader with the College of Charleston on Tuesday, Apr. 26 at 3 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.
