Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop softball opens league play Mar. 18-19 as it hosts Campbell in a three-game series on Terry Field.
WINTHROP (17-10 vs. CAMPBELL (17-8)
WHERE: Rock Hill, S.C. |
Terry Field
WHEN: Saturday, Mar. 18, 1:00/3:00 p.m. (DH) | Sunday, Mar. 19, 1:00 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Game 1 /
Game 2 /
Game 3
LIVE STREAM (ESPN+): Game 1 /
Game 2 /
Game 3
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Winthrop opens league play against Campbell as both teams are tied for the second-most wins in the league at 17
- Just one win shy of equaling last year's total of 18 wins
- Coming off a 5-4 win in eight innings over Quinnipiac to take the series
- On the season the Eagles are now 10-4 in games decided by two runs or less
- Have shutouts in two of the last four games and a total of four on the year
- Winthrop and Campbell have met 66 times with the Eagles holding a 38-28 advantage in the all-time series
- Eagles were swept by Campbell at home in 2022 and have dropped six straight series
- The last time the Eagles took a series from Campbell was 2015 with a sweep at home
- Opened the season recording back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 2006
- Sitting 5th in the Big South in batting average (.253), 3rd in total hits and 4th in total runs
- Paige Rivas leads the team with a .372 average and on-base percentage (.473)
- She was 6-for-10 in the series with Quinnipiac, raising her average 43 points
- Paige Rivas is 4th in the league in on-base percentage and 8th in batting
- Macy McCall is second on the team in batting (.326), third in runs (14) and is tied with Paige Rivas for the team lead in stolen bases (9)
- McCall leads the team in RBI with 16, which is 6th in the conference
- KaDedra Temple is among the league leaders in home runs (5th), runs (4th), and doubles (7th)
- McCall became the program's all-time leader in stolen bases, surpassing Charlene Smith's record of 71 (has 78 at Winthrop, 93 in her career)
- Team ERA of 2.54 is 3rd best in the conference and lead the conference in total strikeouts with 208 (ranked Top 10 nationally)
- Reese Basinger and Sydney Boulware lead the pitching staff as both are 1st & 4th respectively in strikeouts in the Big South
- Basinger is 9-5 on the year with a 2.11 ERA and 104 strikeouts to 28 walks in 86.1 innings
- Boulware is 7-2 with a 2.80 ERA and 86 strikeouts to 19 walks in 70.0 innings
- Basinger is 7th in the conference in ERA, 3rd in total wins (Boulware is 6th in wins)
- On the season Basinger has five games with 11 or more strikeouts
- Basinger tossed a 3-hit shutout in the opener behind a career-high 13 strikeouts
- In her last two starts Boulware has tossed shutouts allowing a total of 12 hits, one walk and 11 strikeouts and is now ranked 15th nationally in total shutouts
- On Feb. 24 Boulware struck out a career-high 15 in seven innings against North Carolina Central
- The 15 strikeouts are the most by anyone in the Big South and tied for the 12th most in a game by any NCAA D1 pitcher this season (as of Mar. 17)
- The duo both rank in the nationally in total strikeouts as Basinger is 11th, Boulware is 36th
- Mackenzie Smith made her first appearance in the circle this season against Texas State and earned the win as she tossed six innings allowing one earned run with three walks and two strikeouts
- Chelsea Roberson has been behind the plate for the majority of innings this season and is 2nd in the Big South with seven runners caught stealing
- Eagles return four starters with 50 or more starts and five with 35 or more starts last season
- Led by McCall (two-time All-Big South selection) and Paige Rivas (All-Big South selection)
- Kaitlyn Tucker led the team with 24 RBI and tied McCall for the team-lead in doubles (10)
- Ashton Vanhouse was second on the team with a .309 average and third in runs with 22
- This year's squad is made up of five freshmen, four sophomores, 10 juniors, four seniors and a graduate student
- Eagles were voted 6th in the Big South Conference Preseason Poll
LOOKING BACK AT 2021
- Eagles are coming off an 18-37 campaign in which the majority of the key players were underclassmen, including a 1-2 pitching staff of freshmen
- The Eagles featured a ton of speed on the bases, finishing second in the Big South in steals with 100
- The 100 steals were the third most in program history for a single-season
- For the first time in program history the Eagles had three different players steal 20 or more bases in a season
- Red-shirt junior Paige Rivas led the team with 25 swipes while Macy McCall had 23 and Ashton Vanhouse snagged 22
- McCall is a two-time All-Big South selection, who set the program record for stolen bases in a season with 48 in 2021
- That season her 48 stolen bases ranked 2nd in the nation (NCAA D1)
- McCall set career-highs in doubles while tying her career-best of 17 RBI
- Paige Rivas led the team with a .354 average, ranking 8th in the Big South (9th in on-base percentage)
- Winthrop as a team set a program record for being hit by a pitch (41)
- Reese Basinger and Sydney Boulware led the pitching staff in their freshman season
- The duo combined for 259 strikeouts and the staff finished with 328 which ranks 4th in a single-season at Winthrop
- Eagles led the Big South in walks in 2022 (160), led by McCall with 27
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 93-103 overall and 35-37 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 18 seasons she's compiled an overall record of 507-443 and a record of 344-351 at the helm of a D1 program
- Her 500th career win came on Feb. 26 in a 2-1 victory over Fordham
- 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
RECORD BOOK WATCH
- McCall's single-season record of 46 stolen bases in her first year with the Eagles put her 3rd all-time in program history
- This season she became the program's all-time leader in stolen bases last weekend as she passed Charlene Smith's mark of 71
- McCall now has 93 total stolen bases in her collegiate career (78 with the Eagles)
- In three seasons McCall has drawn 64 walks with the Eagles, moving into a tie for 9th on the all-time list
- McCall moved into 28th on the all-time hit list at Winthrop with 132 and is now six away from 27th place
BIG SOUTH WEEKLY HONORS
- Ansley Lee – Player of the Week (Mar. 6)
- Led the team in average (.412) for the week and RBI with six (five games)
- Three of her hits were for extra bases that included two doubles and a home run
- Had a career-high three hits (3-for-3) and had two RBI in the win over Texas State
- In the loss to Oakland she drove in a career-high three runs including a go-ahead RBI single in the 8th for a 4-3 lead
- In the win over Penn she was 1-for-3 with two runs and an RBI
- Reese Basinger – Pitcher of the Week (Mar. 13)
- Was 2-0 with an ERA of 1.50 and 16 strikeouts to three walks in 14 innings
- Struck out 11 vs. Rider as she took a no-hitter into the seventh inning
UP NEXT
Winthrop will step away from league action and host a doubleheader on Wednesday, Mar. 22 at 3 p.m. against South Carolina State.
For everything Winthrop softball visit
www.winthropeagles.com or follow us on social media @Winthropsoftbal, winthropsoftball (Instagram) or
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