Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop softball heads to USC Upstate for a doubleheader on Thursday, Apr. 6 as both teams jockey for position in the Big South Conference standings.
The schedule for the series at USC Upstate was adjusted due to the forecast of heavy rain on the weekend as the team's will now play a doubleheader on Apr. 6 and the third game of the series will be scheduled at a later date.
WINTHROP (23-14, 5-4 Big South) at USC UPSTATE (28-10, 4-5 Big South)
WHERE: Spartanburg, S.C. |
Cyrill Softball Stadium
WHEN: Thursday, Apr. 6, 4:00/6:00 p.m. (DH)
LIVE STATS: Game 1 /
Game 2
LIVE STREAM: None
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Eagles are celebrating 50 years of collegiate softball competition this season
- Winthrop and USC Upstate have met 18 times as the Spartans lead the all-time series 12-6
- In last season's meeting in Spartanburg, the Eagles were swept by the Spartans
- Coming off a series loss (2-1) at Gardner-Webb after a series sweep of Radford the weekend prior
- 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
- Basinger and Boulware lead the staff that is ranked 4th in the league with a 2.45 ERA
- Basinger is 13-7 on the year with a 1.78 ERA and has 166 strikeouts to 34 walks
- Sydney Boulware is 9-4 on the year with a 2.77 ERA and has 101 strikeouts to 21 walks
- As a staff the Eagles have 290 strikeouts which leads the conference and was tied for first nationally heading into the week with Auburn (Mar. 27) and as of Apr. 2 ranked third
- The 290 strikeouts are tied for the 10th most in a single-season by a Winthrop team
- Basinger and Boulware are 1st & 4th respectively in strikeouts in the Big South
- Basinger is 3rd in the conference in ERA, 3rd in total wins (Boulware is 5th in wins)
- In a stretch of three starts before the Gardner-Webb series Basinger struck out 13 or more batters which included a career-high 16 against Radford in the series opener
- 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
- 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 52nd
- Opened the season recording back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 2006
- Sitting 7th in the Big South in batting average (.239), 5th in total hits and total runs
- Macy McCall leads the team in batting (.353), 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 tied for 6th in the conference in RBI, while tied for 10th in runs and tied for 9th in home runs
- Paige Rivas is 2nd on the team with a .327 average and is 6th in the league in on-base percentage
- KaDedra Temple is among the league leaders in home runs (T-5th) and runs (7th)
- 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 nine runners caught stealing (ranked 18th 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 98-107 overall and 40-41 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 513-447 and a record of 350-355 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 27th on the all-time hit list at Winthrop with 144 and is one behind 26th and three behind 25th
- 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 is also just nine strikeouts from cracking the program's single-season Top 10
- Sydney Boulware in a year and a half into her career has moved within 70 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 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
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