Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop softball hosts South Carolina State for a midweek doubleheader, Wednesday afternoon on Terry Field.
WINTHROP (18-12) vs. SOUTH CAROLINA ST. (1-17)
WHERE: Rock Hill, S.C. |
Terry Field
WHEN: Wednesday, Mar. 22, 3:00/5:00 p.m. (DH)
LIVE STATS: Game 1 /
Game 2
LIVE STREAM (ESPN+): Game 1 /
Game 2
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Winthrop opened league play last weekend as it dropped the series 2-1
- Took game three of the series with a 4-0 victory, the team's fifth shutout of the season
- The Eagles are 32-1 all-time against the Bulldogs and have won six straight in the series
- Over the last 15 meetings the teams have played a doubleheader on six occasions and the Eagles are 12-0 in those contests
- Now have 18 wins on the season, which ties the total from 2022 with 21 games remaining on the schedule
- Opened the season recording back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 2006
- Sitting 6th in the Big South in batting average (.244), 4th in total hits and 4th in total runs
- Paige Rivas leads the team with a .349 average and on-base percentage (.456)
- Paige Rivas is 4th in the league in on-base percentage and 8th in batting
- Macy McCall is second on the team in batting (.330), 2nd in runs (18) and leads the team in RBI (22)
- McCall has eight RBI in her last four games and 12 in her last eight games
- McCall is tied for 2nd in the conference in RBI, while tied for sixth in runs and home runs
- McCall is now one run from her 100th as an Eagle and when she reaches the 100 run mark she'll be the 16th player in program history to do so
- KaDedra Temple is among the league leaders in home runs (T-6th), runs (4th), and doubles (T-7th)
- McCall became the program's all-time leader in stolen bases, surpassing Charlene Smith's record of 71 (has 79 at Winthrop, 94 in her career)
- Team ERA of 2.52 is 4th best in the conference and the Eagles lead the conference in total strikeouts with 227 (ranked Top 10 nationally)
- Reese Basinger and Sydney Boulware lead the pitching staff as both are 2nd & 4th respectively in strikeouts in the Big South
- Basinger is 10-6 on the year with a 1.95 ERA and 117 strikeouts to 31 walks in 100.1 innings
- Boulware is 7-3 with a 2.87 ERA and 90 strikeouts to 19 walks in 75.2 innings
- Basinger is 6th in the conference in ERA, 3rd in total wins (Boulware is 7th 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 two of her last three starts Boulware has tossed shutouts and ranks 27th 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 14th most in a game by any NCAA D1 pitcher this season (as of Mar. 20)
- The duo both rank in the nationally in total strikeouts as Basinger is 12th, Boulware is 38th
- 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 tied for the Big South lead with nine runners caught stealing (ranked 8th nationally)
- This year's squad is made up of five freshmen, four sophomores, 10 juniors, four seniors and a graduate student
- 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)
- 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)
- 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
- 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 94-105 overall and 36-39 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 508-445 and a record of 345-353 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 94 total stolen bases in her collegiate career (79 with the Eagles)
- In three seasons McCall has drawn 68 walks with the Eagles, moving into 6th on the all-time list
- McCall moved into 27th on the all-time hit list at Winthrop with 135
- Looking to become the 16th player in program history to score 100 runs as she currently has 99
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 gets back into conference play on the weekend as it hosts Radford in a three-game series Mar. 25-26. The Eagles will play a doubleheader on Saturday, Mar. 25 at 3 p.m. The series will wrap-up Sunday at 2 p.m. as the game will air live on ESPNU.
For everything Winthrop softball visit
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