Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop is back in action Tuesday as it travels to South Carolina before heading to West Virginia on the weekend for the Thundering Herd March Madness.
WINTHROP (12-7) AT SOUTH CAROLINA (19-2)
WHERE: Columbia, S.C. | Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field
WHEN: Tuesday, Mar. 7 | 6 p.m.
LIVE STATS | SECN+
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal
THUNDERING HERD MARCH MADNESS
WHERE: Huntington, W.Va. |
Dot Hicks Field
WHEN: Friday-Sunday (Mar. 10-12)
PARTICIPATING TEAMS: Cleveland State, Marshall, Rider, Winthrop
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal
WINTHROP SCHEDULE (Thundering Herd March Madness)
Friday, Mar. 10
Winthrop at Marshall, 1 p.m.
Winthrop vs. Cleveland St., 3 p.m.
Saturday, Mar. 11
Winthrop vs. Cleveland State, 9 a.m.
Winthrop vs. Rider, 3 p.m.
Sunday, Mar. 12
Winthrop vs. Rider, 10 a.m.
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Looking to end a two-game skid after finishing up the Owl Classic with losses to FAU and Texas State (FAU and Texas State are a combined 30-12 on the year)
- The Eagles opened the Owl Classic with an 8-4 win over Texas State
- South Carolina is the 4th team the Eagles face this season that currently has 14 or more wins and it is the 3rd team with 16 or more
- Eagles will also face another team this weekend that's already hit the 16 win mark in Marshall (16-3)
- Sitting 3rd in the Big South in batting average (.263), 2nd in total hits and 4th in total runs
- Paige Rivas leads the team with a .358 average, which ranks 10th in the conference, but fourth in on-base percentage (.477)
- KaDedra Temple is among the league leaders in doubles (3rd) and runs scored (5th)
- Macy McCall is second on the team in batting average (.339), leads the team in stolen bases (8) and is third in runs scored (11)
- McCall became the program's all-time leader in stolen bases, surpassing Charlene Smith's record of 71 (has 75 at Winthrop, 91 in her career)
- Kaitlyn Tucker leads the team in RBI (11) and is 10th in the Big South while Temple is second on the team with 10
- Ansley Lee entered the week with three RBI on the year and she doubled that last week with six RBI in a five-game stretch and is now tied for 3rd on the team with nine RBI
- So far this season the Eagles are 7-3 in games decided by two or fewer runs
- Opened the season recording back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 2006
- Team ERA of .275 is 3rd best in the conference and lead the conference in total strikeouts (161)
- Reese Basinger and Sydney Boulware lead the pitching staff as both are 1st & third respectively in strikeouts in the Big South
- Basinger is 6-4 on the year with a 2.47 ERA and 82 strikeouts to 24 walks in 62.1 innings
- Boulware is 5-1 with a 3.37 ERA and 63 strikeouts to 13 walks in 45.2 innings
- Basinger is 8th in the conference in ERA 4th in total wins (Boulware is 6th in wins)
- Basinger tossed a 3-hit shutout in the opener behind a career-high 13 strikeouts
- Boulware then tossed a 6-0 hit shutout with one walk and six strikeouts
- The duo both rank in the Top 15 nationally in total strikeouts as Basinger is 9th, Boulware is 15th
- Basinger also ranks 24th in strikeouts per seven innings (10.6)
- 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 all 19 games and is tied for the lead in the Big South with six 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)
- Tucker led the team with 24 RBI and tied McCall for the team-lead in doubles (10)
- 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 88-100 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 502-440 and a record of 339-348 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 92 total stolen bases in her collegiate career (77 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
UP NEXT
This is the final in season tournament the Eagles will compete in. Next week starting Mar. 15 the Eagles will host 12 straight home games. That stretch will begin on Mar. 15 with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. against Quinnipiac. The three-game series will wrap-up on Thursday, Mar. 16 at 1 p.m.
For everything Winthrop softball visit
www.winthropeagles.com or follow us on social media @Winthropsoftbal, winthropsoftball (Instagram) or
www.facebook.com/aWinthrop-Softball.
