Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop softball hosts a three-game series May 3-4 with USC Upstate to close out the 2024 regular season.
USC UPSTATE (26-18, 12-3 Big South) at (WINTHROP (21-26, 7-8 Big South)
WHERE: Rock Hill, S.C. |
Terry Field
WHEN: Friday, May 3 (2 p.m. doubleheader) | Saturday, May 4 (2 p.m.)
LIVE STATS: Game 1 / Game 2 / Game 3
ESPN+: Game 1 / Game 2 / Game 3
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal
SERIES HISTORY WITH USC UPSTATE
- The Eagles and Spartans have met 19 times since USC Upstate transitioned to NCAA D1
- Upstate leads the series 12-7 and won the last meeting 3-0
- Eagles took the series 2-1 over Upstate, taking the first two games of the series (2-0, 2-1)
- Spartans have won four of the last six meetings
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Coming off a series win over Charleston Southern after a 7-0 win on Thursday
- Have won three straight following a five-game skid
- Sitting in 5th place at 7-8 and trailing Gardner-Webb (9-9) and Charleston Southern (9-9) for one of the Top 4 spots to advance to the conference tournament
- Rank 2nd in stolen bases and ERA in the Big South, 3rd in doubles, 4th in strikeouts, and 5th in
- KaDedra Temple has been on a tear the last 20 games, batting .467 with 14 runs, seven doubles, two home runs, 16 RBI and a .515 on-base percentage
- Ashton VanHouse is second on the team with a .309 average and is second on the team in runs (19)
- VanHouse has 19 stolen bases on the year and is 6th in the league
- Reese Basinger is third on the team with a .285 average and is second with 22 RBI
- Emma Jackson is fourth on the team with a .281 batting average and leads the team with a .432 on-base percentage
- Paige Rivas is fourth in the Big South with 24 stolen bases and her team-high 30 runs rank 5th in the conference
- Paige Rivas has now scored 20 or more runs in three straight seasons
- As a team the Eagles have 73 stolen bases on the year (73-for-81), which is tied for 9th all-time for a single-season
- Winthrop is 44th nationally in stolen bases per game and tied for 39th in total stolen bases (as of games through Apr. 28)
- Paige Rivas is tied for 20th nationally in stolen bases while VanHouse is 61st (as of Apr. 18)
- Basinger and Megan Powell lead way in the circle
- Basinger has a 10-14 record with a 2.41 ERA with 121 strikeouts and 38 walks in 157.0 innings
- Powell is 7-8 with an ERA of 3.21 with 95 strikeouts and 65 walks in 102.1 innings
- Basinger is 2nd in the league in ERA while Powell is 7th in the Big South
- Basinger is 2nd in the Big South in strikeouts with 121 and Powell is 7th with 95
- In opposing batting average Powell is 3rd and Basinger is 6th
- Powell is 3rd in the league lead in batters struck out looking (34) and Basinger is 4th (33)
- Pounded out a season-high 16 hits in an 11-3 win at Wofford (Mar. 13)
- 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
- 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 3,045th, 3,046th and 3,047th games in program history as the Eagles hold an all-time record of 1,241-1,100-3
- 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 63-100 (128-168 career record)
RECORD BOOK WATCH/CAREER MILESTONES
- Reese Basinger
- Has 463 career strikeouts in three seasons, which ranks 7th all-time in program history
- Became the 9th pitcher in program history to reach 400 career strikeouts
- Trails 6th place by 19 strikeouts
- Has a career ERA of 2.27, which ranks 8th all-time in program history (492.1 innings pitched)
- Has 354 career wins (35-41) and is one win away from 11th on the all-time list
- Grayson Buckner (includes stats from Lees-McRae)
- Is closing in on 100 career hits (89)
- Emma Jackson (includes stats from Lees-McRae)
- Reached 100 career hits and now has 107
- Paige Rivas
- In four seasons with the Eagles she's stolen 66 bases, 4th all-time (1 behind 3rd and 5 behind 2nd)
- Became just the 6th player in program history to reach 50 career stolen bases and 5th to reach 60
- In her career she has 71 stolen bases
- Has 142 hits as an Eagle, becoming the 28th player in program history with 140 or more hits
- Her 140 hits also rank 28th on the all-time list (146 career hits) and is three hits away from 27th (5 from 26th and 7 from 25th)
- Megan Powell (includes stats from Lees-McRae)
- Recently surpassed 100 career hits (117) and surpassed 100 career RBI (104)
- Hit her 26th career home run in the 9-1 win over Charleston Southern and her 5th as an Eagle
- In the circle, Powell reached 400 strikeouts at Radford (Game 1 of doubleheader) and now has 424 in her career
- The shutout vs. Gardner-Webb was the ninth of her career
- Ashton VanHouse
- Has 67 career stolen bases, tied for 3rd on the all-time list (4 behind 2nd)
- Became just the 5th player in program history to reach 50 career stolen bases and 4th to reach 60
- Became the 58th Eagle in program history to reach 100 career hits
- Her 108 hits rank 53rd on the all-time list
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
If the Eagles are able to take 2-of-3 from USC Upstate they will qualify for the Big South Conference Tournament May 9-11.
For everything Winthrop softball visit
www.winthropeagles.com or follow us on social media @Winthropsoftbal, winthropsoftball (Instagram) or
www.facebook.com/Winthrop-Softball.
