Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop softball looks to end a losing skid as it hosts Charleston Southern in a key Big South Conference weekend series.
WINTHROP vs. CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
WHERE: Rock Hill, S.C. |
Terry Field
WHEN: Saturday, Apr. 9, 1 p.m. / 3 p.m. (doubleheader) | Sunday, Apr. 10, 1 p.m.
RECORDS: Winthrop (11-25, 5-7 Big South) / Charleston Southern (16-19, 5-7 Big South)
LIVE STATS: Game 1 /
Game 2 /
Game 3 |
LIVE VIDEO (ESPN+): Game 1 /
Game 2 /
Game 3
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Winthrop and Charleston meet in a key matchup for both teams as each sits 5-7 in the Big South standings
- Both teams are in a four-way tie in 5th place at 5-7 with Radford and Gardner-Webb
- Eagles look to end an eight-game losing streak, including five straight against league competition
- Have won five of the last six meetings and have captured the last three regular season series
- Of the last six meetings, five of them have been decided by two or fewer runs
- Batting .242 as a team, sixth in the Big South
- Ranked 3rd in the league in on-base percentage (.347)
- Winthrop is second in the league with 70 stolen bases, led by junior Macy McCall with 19
- Ashton Vanhouse is second on the team with 16 and Paige Rivas has 14
- McCall is second in the Big South in steals, Vanhouse is 4th and Rivas is 6th
- McCall is tied for second in the league with runs per game and 3rd with 28 total
- Lauren King is 4th in the league in on-base percentage (.447) while Rivas and McCall are just outside the Top 10 at .400
- Lauren Hucherson leads the team in batting in league play (9 games) with a .417 average while McCall is next at .405 (12 games)
- Freshmen Reese Basinger and Sydney Boulware have made five starts in league play while Bella Roy has two
- On the year, Boulware has a team-high 14 starts while Basinger has 13 and Roy with eight
- Basinger and Boulware are tied for the most wins with four each while Roy has three
- Boulware is tied for 4th in the league in strikeouts with 98 while Basinger is 9th with 80
- Boulware is third in strikeouts per game (8.87) and Basinger 8th (6.15)
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 79-84 overall and 30-27 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 483-422 and a record of 320-330 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 remain at home as it will host the College of Charleston for a doubleheader on Wednesday, Apr. 13 with the first game slated to start at 4 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.
