Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop welcomes Queens to Terry Field for a midweek doubleheader on Wednesday, Mar. 20 at 4 p.m.
QUEENS (10-11) AT WINTHROP (11-16)
WHERE: Rock Hill, S.C. |
Terry Field
WHEN: Wednesday, Mar. 20 (4/6 p.m. doubleheader)
LIVE STATS: Game 1 /
Game 2
ESPN+: Game 1 /
Game 2
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal
SERIES HISTORY WITH QUEENS
- Despite being just a few miles apart, these two teams met for the first time in 2023
- The Royals spoiled the Eagles home opener with a 9-2 victory
- The teams were scheduled to meet in Charlotte, N.C. on Feb. 28, but the game was canceled due to rain so the game was switched to a home game for Winthrop, making this matchup a doubleheader
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Eagles opened Big South Conference last weekend, falling 2-1 at Presbyterian in the series
- In the last midweek action for the Eagles, they pounded out a season-high 17 hits in an 11-3 win at Wofford
- The 17 hits were the most since Apr. 6, 2019 when the Eagles had 21 in the first game of a doubleheader at Radford
- The 11 runs were the most in a single-game since the Eagles had 10 on Apr. 15, 2022 at Gardner-Webb
- In the game the Eagles had six different players with multiple hits and eight different players scored at least one run
- Emma Jackson, who hasn't played since Mar. 3, leads the team with a .357 average, while also leading in extra base hits, walks (12) and on-base percentage
- Jackson's seven doubles lead the Eagles and tied for third in the Big South
- Mackenzie Smith, who has started the last five games is on a team-best seven-game hitting streak and batting. 409 (9-for-22)
- Paige Rivas is second on the team with a .292 average followed by Reese Basinger at .291 and Ashton VanHouse at .290
- Paige Rivas leads the team and the Big South with 18 stolen bases and her team-high 18 runs rank 4th in the conference
- KaDedra Temple and Ansley Lee lead the team with eight RBI each
- As a team the Eagles have 45 stolen bases on the year (45-for-49)
- Basinger and Megan Powell lead way in the circle
- Basinger has a 7-8 record with a 2.36 ERA with 71 strikeouts and 25 walks in 95.0 innings
- Powell is 4-6 with an ERA of 3.20 with 51 strikeouts and 40 walks in 54.2 innings
- Basinger is 5th in the league in ERA and Powell is 10th
- Basinger is 3rd in strikeouts while Powell is tied for 8th
- In opposing batting average Basinger is 2nd and Powell is 4th
- 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 3,024th and 3,025th games in program history as the Eagles hold an all-time record of 1,231-1,090-3
- 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 53-90 (118-158 career record)
RECORD BOOK WATCH
- Reese Basinger
- Has 413 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 two strikeouts and 32 back of 7th
- Has a career ERA of 2.24, which ranks 8th all-time in program history (430.1 innings pitched)
- Paige Rivas
- In four seasons with the Eagles she's stolen 58 bases, 5th all-time (9 behind 3rd)
- Became just the 6th player in program history to reach 50 career stolen bases
- In her career she has 63 stolen bases
- Has 130 hits as an Eagle and rank 31st on the all-time hit list
- Ashton VanHouse
- Has 59 career stolen bases, 4th on the all-time list (8 behind 3rd place and 12 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 be home Mar. 23-24 as it takes on Gardner-Webb in its first Big South home series of the season. The series begins Saturday, Mar. 23 with a doubleheader slated for 1 p.m. The series will wrap-up on Sunday, Mar. 24 with game three scheduled for 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.
