Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop softball heads to Wofford College for a midweek contest on Wednesday, Mar. 13.
WINTHROP (9-14) at WOFFORD COLLEGE (9-6)
WHERE: Spartanburg, S.C. | Hope Field
WHEN: Wednesday, Mar. 13 | 6 p.m.
LIVE STATS | ESPN+
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal
SERIES HISTORY WITH WOFFORD COLLEGE
- This is the first ever meeting between Winthrop and Wofford College as the Terriers are in their first year of competition
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Coming off a 1-3 weekend at Georgia Southern
- This is the last preparation game for the Eagles before they jump into Big South Conference action this weekend at Presbyterian College
- Emma Jackson leads the team with a .357 average, while also leading in extra base hits and tied for the team-lead in RBI (7)
- Jackson's seven doubles lead the Eagles and tied for first in the Big South
- Her on-base percentage of .509 also leads the conference
- Second in batting average is Paige Rivas at .288
- Paige Rivas also leads the team and Big South in stolen bases (17-for-17) and tied for 5th nationally in total steals
- Paige Rivas has a team-high 15 runs which is tied for 3rd in the Big South
- Jackson is tied with Ansley Lee for the team-lead in RBI (7)
- Asthon VanHouse is also 9-for-9 stealing bases, ranking 6th in the conference
- As a team the Eagles have 37 stolen bases on the year (37-for-40)
- Reese Basinger is third on the team with a .286 average and has four runs and four RBI
- Basinger and Megan Powell lead way in the circle
- Basinger has a 6-7 record with a 2.49 ERA with 61 strikeouts and 21 walks in 76.0 innings
- Powell is 3-5 with an ERA of 3.13 with 39 strikeouts and 37 walks in 47 innings
- 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 will be the 3,019th game in program history as the Eagles hold an all-time record of 1,229-1,088-3
- 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 2023
- 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 52-90 (117-158 career record)
RECORD BOOK WATCH
- Reese Basinger
- Has 403 career strikeouts in three seasons, which ranks 9th all-time in program history
- Became the 9th pitcher in program history to reach 400 career strikeouts
- Trails 8th place by 10 strikeouts
- Has a career ERA of 2.26, which ranks 9th all-time in program history (411.1 innings pitched)
- Paige Rivas
- In four seasons with the Eagles she's stolen 57 bases, tied for 4th all-time (10 behind 3rd)
- Became just the 6th player in program history to reach 50 career stolen bases
- In her career she has 62 stolen bases
- Has 125 hits as an Eagle and rank 37th on the all-time hit list
- Ashton VanHouse
- Has 57 career stolen bases, tied for 4th on the all-time list (10 behind 3rd place and 15 behind 2nd)
- Became just the 5th player in program history to reach 50 career stolen bases
2024 SEASON HONORS
- Reese Basinger (Big South Pitcher of the Week / Feb. 20)
- Went 3-1 on the week with a 1.50 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 23.1 innings
- First win on the week came in relief at UNC Greensboro
UP NEXT
Winthrop will hit the road to open up Big South Conference action Mar. 15-16 in Clinton, S.C. to take on Presbyterian College. Winthrop will open the series with a single-game on Friday, Mar. 15 at 3 p.m. and then play a doubleheader on Saturday, 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.
