Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop softball is back home to host the Winthrop Eagle Classic Feb. 16-18, as it opens the weekend against Binghamton and Le Moyne on Friday.
WINTHROP EAGLE CLASSIC
WHERE: Rock Hill, S.C. |
Terry Field
WHEN: Friday-Sunday (Feb. 16-18)
PARTICIPATING TEAMS: Appalachian State, Binghamton, Le Moyne, Monmouth, Mount St. Mary's, USC Upstate, Winthrop
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal
WINTHROP SCHEDULE
Friday, Feb. 16
Binghamton at Winthrop, 3 p.m. |
Live Stats |
ESPN+
Le Moyne at Winthrop, 5:30 p.m. |
Live Stats |
ESPN+
Saturday, Feb. 17
Mount St. Mary's at Winthrop, 3 p.m. |
Live Stats |
ESPN+
Appalachian State at Winthrop, 5:30 p.m. |
Live Stats |
ESPN+
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Coming off a doubleheader split at UNC Greensboro
- After dropping the first game 6-1, the Eagles bounced back to win 5-4 in eight innings to earn the split
- Opened the season with a round robin with North Carolina and North Carolina A&T at home
- The Eagles dropped two games against the Tar Heels and earned two wins against the Aggies
- Senior Paige Rivas leads the Eagles with a .421 average and has a team-high six stolen bases (6-for-6)
- Rivas had her hitting streak come to an end at six games as she finished game two of the doubleheader 0-for-2 with three walks but she has now reached base safely in seven straight games
- The Eagles have 15 stolen bases over the first six games and are 15-for-16
- Ashton VanHouse is second on the team with a .333 average and is tied with Grayson Buckner for the team lead in RBI (3)
- Reese Basinger and Megan Powell have been leading the charge in the circle as each have made three starts
- Basinger is 2-2 on the year with a 1.33 ERA with 24 strikeouts and eight walks (six of which came in the doubleheader at UNCG)
- Powell is 1-1 with a 4.62 ERA and 16 strikeouts to 14 walks (eight of which came at UNCG)
- This is the 51st season in the history of the Winthrop softball program
- On Saturday, Feb. 10 the Eagles defeated North Carolina A&T 2-1 on a walk-off in the 3000th game in program history
- This weekend the Eagles will play the 3,002nd, 3,003rd, 3,004th and 3,005th games in program history as the Eagles hold an all-time record of 1,223-1,077-3
- Captured 1,200th victory in program history on Feb. 18 in a 7-2 victory over North Carolina A&T at Terry Field
LOOKING BACK AT 2022
- Eagles finished one game outside of the Top 4 in the league standings
- Lost the last nine games of the season, but still finished with a winning record at 26-24
- Return a lot of experience with nine field players that were either regular starters or saw significant playing time throughout the season
- The team's leading batter from last season returns in Paige Rivas, who led with a .329 average
- Paige Rivas also led the team in stolen bases with 15, on-base percentage (.435) and walks with 26
- KaDedra Temple was second on the team with 20 RBI last season and tied with Paige Rivas for second on the team with 25 runs
- Temple also led the team in doubles and home runs
- In the circle the Eagles return 2023 First Team All-Big South selection Reese Basinger, who turned in one of the best seasons in program history
- Basinger set career-highs with 15 wins, an ERA of 1.97 and had 212 strikeouts
- She was the first Eagle with 200-plus strikeouts since Shahna Ashard had 216 in 2005
- Basinger tossed a perfect game on Mar. 25 in a 6-0 win over S.C. State
- Ashton VanHouse who was third on the team in stolen bases with 11 and Temple was fourth with 10
HEAD COACH KENDALL FULLER
- Kendall Fuller is in her second stint with the Eagles
- She joined the Winthrop staff as an assistant coach in 2013, was promoted to Associate head coach in the fall of 2014 and with three games remaining in the 2015 season was promoted to Co-Head Coach with Mark Cooke
- Fuller remained Co-Head Coach for the 2016 and 2017 seasons
- In July of 2020 she was named the head softball coach at Lees-McRae and in three seasons compiled a 65-68 overall record
- Led the team to a 32-18 mark in 2023, setting the program record for victories in a single-season
- That season they had a runner-up finish in the Conference Carolinas regular season
- For the team's success in 2023, Fuller was named the Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year
- In her two-plus seasons as Co-Head Coach of the Eagles, Fuller is 46-79 (111-147 career record)
RECORD BOOK WATCH
- Reese Basinger
- Has 352 career strikeouts in two seasons, which ranks 9th all-time in program history
- Trails 8th place by 61 strikeouts
- Has a career ERA of 2.16, which ranks 7th all-time in program history (356.1 innings pitched)
- Paige Rivas
- In three seasons with the Eagles she's stolen 46 bases, which ranks 8th all-time
- She is three away from 7th
- In her career she has 51 stolen bases
- Has 112 hits as an Eagle and ranks 47th on the all-time hit list
- Ashton VanHouse
- Has 51 career stolen bases, which ranks tied for 4th on the all-time list (16 behind 3rd place and 20 behind 2nd)
UP NEXT
Winthrop doesn't have a midweek contest so it will be back on the field Feb. 23-25 when it heads to Buies Creek, N.C. for the Camel Stampede. The Eagles will open up on Friday at 12:30 p.m. vs. St. Joseph's and then face Campbell at 5:30 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.
