Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop softball looks to take its second straight Big South Conference series as it hits the road to take on Radford Mar. 29-30.
WINTHROP (15-19, 3-3 Big South) at Radford (16-14, 1-2 Big South)
WHERE: Radford, Va. |
Radford Softball Stadium
WHEN: Friday, Mar. 29, 4:00 p.m. | Saturday, Mar. 30 (12:00 p.m. | 2:00 p.m.)
LIVE STATS: All Games
ESPN+: Game 1
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal
SERIES HISTORY WITH RADFORD
- Eagles and Highlanders have met 99 times
- Radford leads the all-time series 56-43
- Winthrop swept the season series in 2023, winning each game 2-1
- In the last 10 meetings the Eagles are 6-4
- In the last 33 meetings there have been 16 one-run games and 20 decided by two runs or less
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Coming off a midweek split with ETSU
- Captured the series with Gardner-Webb last weekend and looking to take a second straight conference series
- In that series the Eagles recorded their second shutout of the season
- Eagle pitching held the league's top scoring offense to two runs in the first two games of the season and seven runs total
- Rank 2nd in the Big South in strikeouts, 3rd in stolen bases, 3rd in ERA and 5th in batting average
- 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 leads the team with a .320 average and on-base percentage (.493)
- Jackson leads the team in extra base hits and in doubles with seven (tied for 5th in conference)
- Ashton VanHouse and Reese Basinger are tied for the second-best average at .308
- Basinger leads the team with 14 RBI and is tied for second in runs with eight
- Paige Rivas is second in the Big South with 18 stolen bases and her team-high 21 runs rank 4th in the conference
- Paige Rivas has now scored 20 or more runs in three straight seasons
- KaDedra Temple is second on the team with 13 RBI, runs (8) and doubles (6)
- As a team the Eagles have 48 stolen bases on the year (48-for-54)
- Basinger and Megan Powell lead way in the circle
- Basinger has a 9-9 record with a 2.43 ERA with 89 strikeouts and 31 walks in 115.0 innings
- Powell is 6-6 with an ERA of 3.03 with 64 strikeouts and 48 walks in 71.2 innings
- In game two of the Gardner-Webb series Powell tossed a complete game shutout, allowing just four hits
- Basinger is 6th in the league in ERA and Powell is 8th
- Basinger leads the Big South in strikeouts with 89 and Powell is 8th with 64
- In opposing batting average Powell is 2nd and Basinger 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 3,031st, 3,032nd and 3,033rd games in program history as the Eagles hold an all-time record of 1,235-1,093-3
- 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 57-93 (122-161 career record)
RECORD BOOK WATCH/CAREER MILESTONES
- Reese Basinger
- Has 430 career strikeouts in three seasons, which ranks 8th all-time in program history
- Became the 9th pitcher in program history to reach 400 career strikeouts
- Trails 7th place by 13 strikeouts
- Has a career ERA of 2.25, which ranks 8th all-time in program history (450.1 innings pitched)
- Emma Jackson (includes stats from Lees-McRae)
- Closing in on 100 career hits (98)
- 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 134 hits as an Eagle and rank 29th on the all-time hit list (139 career hits)
- Megan Powell (includes stats from Lees-McRae)
- Recently surpassed 100 career hits (103) and is closing in on 100 career RBI (93)
- In the circle, Powell is closing in on 400 career strikeouts (393)
- The shutout vs. Gardner-Webb was the ninth of her career
- Ashton VanHouse
- Has 62 career stolen bases, 4th on the all-time list (5 behind 3rd place and 9 behind 2nd)
- Became just the 5th player in program history to reach 50 career stolen bases and 4th to reach 60
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 steps away from league play for a midweek trip to Columbia, S.C. to take on nationally-ranked South Carolina on Wednesday, Apr. 3 at 6 p.m.
For everything Winthrop softball visit
www.winthropeagles.com or follow us on social media @Winthropsoftbal, winthropsoftball (Instagram) or
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