Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop softball heads to USC Upstate for a midweek contest Wednesday evening to complete its three-game Big South Conference series.
WINTHROP (25-14, 7-4 Big South) at USC UPSTATE (27-11, 4-7 Big South)
WHERE: Spartanburg, S.C. |
Cyrill Softball Stadium
WHEN: Wednesday, Apr. 12, 6:00 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Sidearm
LIVE STREAM: ESPN+
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Eagles are celebrating 50 years of collegiate softball competition this season
- Winthrop won the first two games in the series, sweeping a doubleheader on Apr. 6
- The second win of the doubleheader gave head coach Windy Thees her 100th win at Winthrop
- The Eagles have now taken two of the last three regular season three-game series with the Spartans
- Winthrop and USC Upstate have met 20 times as the Spartans lead the all-time series 12-8
- Over the last 10 games the Eagles are 8-2 and have won two straight
- The strength of the Eagles this season has been pitching as they feature two of the top pitchers in the league in Reese Basinger and Sydney Boulware and it showed in the doubleheader sweep of the Spartans
- The duo combined to allow four hits and one run in the two games
- Basinger allowed one run on one hit and Boulware followed that up with a three-hit shutout
- Basinger and Boulware lead the staff that is ranked 2nd in the league with a 2.35 ERA
- Basinger is 14-7 on the year with a 1.74 ERA and has 174 strikeouts to 36 walks
- Sydney Boulware is 10-4 on the year with a 2.57 ERA and has 106 strikeouts to 23 walks
- As a staff the Eagles have 303 strikeouts which leads the conference and sixth nationally as of Apr. 10
- The 303 strikeouts are the 7th most in a single-season by a Winthrop team
- Basinger and Boulware are 1st & 5th respectively in strikeouts in the Big South
- Basinger is 3rd in the conference in ERA, 3rd in total wins (Boulware is 5th in wins)
- On Feb. 24 Boulware struck out a career-high 15 in seven innings against North Carolina Central and Basinger struck out a career-high 16 on Mar. 25 against Radford
- Basinger's 16 strikeouts are the most by any Big South pitcher this year and Boulware's 15 strikeouts are the second-most
- Eagles are the only team in the country with more than one pitcher that has struck out 15 or more batters in a game
- The duo both rank in the nationally in total strikeouts as Basinger is 4th, Boulware is 58th
- Opened the season recording back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 2006
- Sitting 7th in the Big South in batting average (.240), 5th in total hits and 6th in total runs
- Macy McCall leads the team in batting (.347), tied for 2nd in runs (20) and leads the team in RBI (24) - The 24 RBI are a career-best for a single-season
- McCall is 7th in the conference in RBI and 8th in batting average
- Paige Rivas is 2nd on the team with a .330 average, leads the league in walks and is 5th in the league in on-base percentage
- KaDedra Temple is among the league leaders in home runs (T-5th) and runs (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 3rd in the Big South with 10 runners caught stealing (ranked 20th 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 100-107 overall and 42-41 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 515-447 and a record of 352-355 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 146 and is one behind 25th and three behind 24th
- 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 two strikeouts of the program's all-time Top 10 (10th place is Natalie Becker with 298)
- Basinger moved into the program's single-season Top 10 for strikeouts (304) and is tied for 10th
- Sydney Boulware in a year and a half into her career has moved within 65 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
- Sydney Boulware – Pitcher of the Week (Apr. 10)
- Made one start on the week and tossed a three-hit shutout in a 2-0 win at USC Upstate to complete a doubleheader sweep
- Struck out five and walked two as she recorded her 5th shutout of the season
UP NEXT
Eagles return home Apr. 14-15 to host Presbyterian College in a three-game series. The series begins Friday, Apr. 14 with a single game at 4 p.m. The series will conclude with a doubleheader on Saturday, Apr. 15 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
