Rock Hill, S.C.— Riding a five game winning streak Winthrop softball heads to Gardner-Webb for its first Big South Conference road series this season, Apr. 1-2.
WINTHROP (22-12, 4-2 Big South) at GARDNER-WEBB (12-22, 1-1 Big South)
WHERE: Boiling Springs, N.C. |
Brinkley Softball Stadium
WHEN: Saturday, Apr. 1, 3:00/5:00 p.m. (DH) | Sunday, Apr. 2, 12:00 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Game 1 /
Game 2 /
Game 3
LIVE STREAM: NONE
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Eagles are celebrating 50 years of collegiate softball competition this season
- The first game of the Gardner-Webb series will be the 2,292nd game in program history as the Eagles are 1,216-1072-3 all-time
- Coming off a series sweep of Radford and have won five straight games overall (four straight league games)
- The Eagles won all three games versus Radford by a 2-1 score and are now 9-4 in one-run games this year
- Winthrop and Gardner-Webb have met 53 times and the Eagles hold a 35-18 lead in the series
- The Eagles swept the Runnin' Bulldogs in Boiling Springs last season, outscoring them 21-3 in the three games
- Winthrop has won four straight in the series and seven of the last eight meetings
- Eagles have taken the last three series against Gardner-Webb
- Last week was a big one for starting pitcher Reese Basinger, who was 3-0 and pitched a perfect game against S.C. State with 13 strikeouts
- Basinger was named the Big South Conference and D1Softball.com Pitcher of the Week for her efforts
- The sophomore leads the staff that is ranked 3rd in the league with a 2.31 ERA
- Basinger is 13-6 on the year with a 1.73 ERA and has 159 strikeouts to 32 walks
- Sydney Boulware is 8-3 on the year with a 2.71 ERA and has 99 strikeouts to 19 walks
- As a staff the Eagles have 278 strikeouts which leads the conference and was tied for first nationally heading into the week with Auburn
- Basinger and Boulware are 1st & 4th respectively in strikeouts in the Big South
- Basinger is 4th in the conference in ERA, 3rd in total wins (Boulware is 6th in wins)
- Over the last three starts Basinger has struck out 13 or more batters which included a career-high 16 against Radford in the series opener
- Basinger tossed a 3-hit shutout in the opener behind a career-high 13 strikeouts
- On Feb. 24 Boulware struck out a career-high 15 in seven innings against North Carolina Central
- Basinger's 16 strikeouts are the most by any Big South pitcher this year and Boulware's 15 strikeouts are the second-most
- The duo both rank in the nationally in total strikeouts as Basinger is 3rd, Boulware is 39th
- Opened the season recording back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 2006
- Sitting 6th in the Big South in batting average (.245), 4th in total hits and 4th in total runs
- Paige Rivas leads the team with a .354 average and on-base percentage (.466)
- Paige Rivas is 2nd in the league in on-base percentage and 8th in batting
- Macy McCall is second on the team in batting (.339), is 3rd in runs (19) and leads the team in RBI (24) - The 24 RBI are a career-best for a single-season
- McCall has eight RBI in six conference games
- McCall is tied for 2nd in the conference in RBI, while 9th in runs and tied for 8th in home runs
- In the first inning against S.C. State, McCall scored to give her 100 for her Winthrop career, which makes her the 16th player in program history to reach that mark
- KaDedra Temple is among the league leaders in home runs (T-4th), runs (3rd), and doubles (T-8th)
- McCall became the program's all-time leader in stolen bases, surpassing Charlene Smith's record of 71 (has 80 at Winthrop, 95 in her career)
- 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 13th 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 97-105 overall and 39-39 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 512-445 and a record of 349-353 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 95 total stolen bases in her collegiate career (80 with the Eagles)
- In three seasons McCall has drawn 69 walks with the Eagles, moving into 6th on the all-time list
- McCall moved into 26th on the all-time hit list at Winthrop with 138
- Became the 16th player in program history to score 100 runs and is currently 15th with 101
- In a season and a half, Reese Basinger has moved within nine strikeouts of the program's all-time Top 10 (10th place is Natalie Becker with 298)
- Sydney Boulware in a year and a half into her career has moved within 72 strikeouts of 10th all-time
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
- Reese Basinger – Pitcher of the Week (Mar. 27)
- Was 3-0 with a 0.67 ERA while record 42 strikeouts to one walk in 21 innings
- Tossed a perfect game against S.C. State with 13 strikeouts
- Struck out a career-high 16 in the 2-1 win over Radford
- Struck out 13 in the final game of the series with Radford
- Also named D1Softball Pitcher of the Week
UP NEXT
Eagles remain on the road as they'll head to Spartanburg, S.C. Apr. 7-8 to take on USC Upstate.
For everything Winthrop softball visit
www.winthropeagles.com or follow us on social media @Winthropsoftbal, winthropsoftball (Instagram) or
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