Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop gets back to Big South Conference action as it hits the road to Farmvill, Va. to take on Longwood in a three-game series Apr. 13-14.
WINTHROP (18-21, 5-4 Big South) at LONGWOOD (11-25, 4-5 Big South)
WHERE: Farmville, Va. |
Lancer Field
WHEN: Saturday, Apr. 13 (1:00 p.m. DH) | Sunday, Apr. 14 (1:00 p.m.)
LIVE STATS
ESPN+: Game 1 / Game 2 / Game 3
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal
SERIES HISTORY WITH LONGWOOD
- Winthrop and Longwood have met 38 times
- The Lancers lead the all-time series 27-11 and have won the last 10 meetings
- Eagles last took a series from Longwood in 2017 at home with a series sweep
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- After a six-day break, the Eagles picked up a midweek 6-1 victory over Wofford
- In the Eagles most recent action they took a Big South Conference series at Radford 2-1 and then dropped a 2-1 11 inning game at #22 South Carolina
- Rank 3rd in the Big South in strikeouts, tied for 2nd in stolen bases and doubles, 4th in ERA and 4th in batting average
- Pounded out a season-high 16 hits in an 11-3 win at Wofford
- The 16 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
- KaDedra Temple and Reese Basinger lead the Eagles with 20 RBI
- Basinger has the top batting average at .323 while Temple is next at .312
- Over the last eight games, Basinger is batting .367 with five runs, two doubles, a home run and eight RBI (has an eight-game hitting streak)
- Over the last eight games, Temple is batting .481 with five runs, four doubles, a home run and eight RBI
- Ashton VanHouse is third on the team with a .309 average and is second on the team in runs (15)
- VanHouse has 16 stolen bases on the year and is 5th in the league
- Emma Jackson is fourth on the team with a .273 batting average and leads the team with a .440 on-base percentage
- Paige Rivas is third in the Big South with 22 stolen bases and her team-high 25 runs rank tied for 3rd in the conference
- Paige Rivas has now scored 20 or more runs in three straight seasons
- As a team the Eagles have 61 stolen bases on the year (61-for-67)
- Winthrop is 43rd nationally in stolen bases per game and tied for 34th in total stolen bases (as of games through Apr. 10)
- Paige Rivas is tied for 12th nationally in stolen bases while VanHouse is tied for 61st
- Basinger and Megan Powell lead way in the circle
- Basinger has a 9-10 record with a 2.78 ERA with 100 strikeouts and 33 walks in 131.0 innings
- Powell is 6-7 with an ERA of 3.16 with 81 strikeouts and 56 walks in 86.1 innings
- Powell started at #22 South Carolina and tossed 6.2 innings allowing one run on four hits with eight strikeouts and four walks
- It was the fourth start this season she's struck out at least eight
- In game two of the Gardner-Webb series Powell tossed a complete game shutout, allowing just four hits
- Basinger is 5th in the league in ERA and Powell is 6th
- Basinger is second in the Big South in strikeouts with 100 and Powell is tied for 7th with 81
- In opposing batting average Powell is 2nd and Basinger is 6th
- Nationally, Basinger entered the week 6th in the nation in total starts (21), is 15th in total innings pitched (128.0) and 22nd in complete games
- 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 3,037th, 3,338th and 3,339th games in program history as the Eagles hold an all-time record of 1,238-1,095-3
- 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 60-95 (125-163 career record)
RECORD BOOK WATCH/CAREER MILESTONES
- Reese Basinger
- Has 442 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 one strikeout
- Has a career ERA of 2.37, which ranks 9th all-time in program history (466.1 innings pitched)
- Grayson Buckner (includes stats from Lees-McRae)
- Is closing in on 100 career hits (81)
- Emma Jackson (includes stats from Lees-McRae)
- Reached 100 career hits and now has exactly 100
- Paige Rivas
- In four seasons with the Eagles she's stolen 62 bases, 5th all-time (5 behind 3rd)
- Became just the 6th player in program history to reach 50 career stolen bases and 5th to reach 60
- In her career she has 67 stolen bases
- Has 137 hits as an Eagle and rank 29th on the all-time hit list (142 career hits)
- Megan Powell (includes stats from Lees-McRae)
- Recently surpassed 100 career hits (110) and is closing in on 100 career RBI (99)
- In the circle, Powell reached 400 strikeouts (410) at Radford (Game 1 of doubleheader)
- The shutout vs. Gardner-Webb was the ninth of her career
- Ashton VanHouse
- Has 64 career stolen bases, 4th on the all-time list (3 behind 3rd place and 7 behind 2nd)
- Became just the 5th player in program history to reach 50 career stolen bases and 4th to reach 60
- Is one hit shy of 100 in her career (99)
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
Eagles will head to Clemson, S.C. on Tuesday, Apr. 16 to take on the nationally-ranked Clemson Tigers at 6 p.m.
