By the time college lacrosse coaches realized that Reese Basinger would be a good fit, the 5-11 Evans (Ga.) High School product had already committed to play softball at Winthrop. And that decision has made the Eagles coaches very, very happy.
 
Basinger over two and a half seasons, Basinger has become one of the Big South Conference's premier pitchers. She's been a member of the All-Freshman team and an All-BSC first-team selection after leading in the conference with a 1.82 earned run average in 2022-2023.
 
She had a perfect game against S.C. State as a sophomore and topped the 400 strikeout plateau earlier this season. Heading into the regular-season finale against USC Upstate, Reese is 9-14 with a 2.52 ERA.

But had lacrosse coaches come calling earlier, the decision between the two sports might have been a little harder.
 
"I started it for fun in the eighth grade," Reese explained. "By my junior year, I had got pretty good. It was a new program so that's why I was able to set some records."
 
Seven to be exact.
 
In most states high school softball and lacrosse are played in the spring. But Georgia is one of a handful states where softball is played in the fall and lacrosse in the spring. That's the reason the biology major was even able to play both sports.
 
"By the time I had got like pretty good in soccer, I had already committed to play softball at Winthrop."
 
Like most collegiate softball players Reese got her first taste of the sport as a youngster.
 
"When I was eight years old my uncle started a traveling team so me and my two cousins would have a place play," she recalled. "I've been a pitcher pretty much from the first day. I high school I played some first base and the outfield, but pitching was my first love."
 
And what a pitcher she was, setting a school record for most strikeouts in a season with 232 in 117 innings. Her performance on the mound earned numerous post-season honors.
 
"My fastball is in the low to mid-60s," Reese said. "I'm by no means the fastest out there."
But Reese throws six pitches effectively and relies on the drop ball and rise ball as her "go-to" strike out pitch."
 
This season Reese had added a new dimension to her game. She's become one of the Eagles top hitters.
 
"I was a hitter all through high school," Reese said. "My freshman year here I actually got five at-bats but didn't hit any last season."
 
First-year coach Kendall Fuller approached Reese one day during the preseason and the conversation soon turned to hitting.
 
"I told her I had always hit when I was in high school" Reese said. "So, she said let's see what you've got. And I guess she ended up liking what she saw."
 
Reese is hitting .281 with a home run and 22 RBI.
 
Like many of her current teammates, Reese first learned about Winthrop from summer camps.
 
"In the seventh grade I started going to camps," Reese said, "I came to Winthrop when I was in the eighth grade and fell in love with it.
"And each time I came back I saw something different to love. Plus one of my best friends Ashton VanHouse was already here and we've been playing together since she was eight."