Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop opens the 2024 Big South Conference Championship on Thursday, May 9 at 1 p.m. as it will take on second-seeded Longwood on Terry Field.
#2 LONGWOOD (18-31, 11-7 Big South) at WINTHROP (23-27, 9-9 Big South)
WHERE: Rock Hill, S.C. |
Terry Field
WHEN: Thursday, May 9, 1:00 p.m.
LIVE STATS | ESPN+ | BIG SOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal
WINTHROP IN THE BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT
- Winthrop is seeded 3rd for the 4th time in program history and are 6-6 all-time
- Eagles are 63-52 all-time in Big South Tournament play
- This marks the Eagles first trip to the conference tournament since 2019 when they advanced to the championship game before falling to Longwood in the "if necessary" game
- Coastal Carolina and Winthrop are tied for the most tournament titles with six
- Winthrop is 1-5 against Longwood in the Big South Tournament while holding a 16-4 mark against Charleston Southern and 1-0 vs. USC Upstate
- This marks the 15th time Winthrop has hosted the Big South Championship
- Eagles did not qualify in 1997 or 1998 but hold an all-time record of 23-21 when hosting
- Have made the title game in four of the last seven championships the Eagles have hosted
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Eagles earned the third seed for the conference tournament after taking 2-of-3 at home against USC Upstate to close out the regular season
- Winthrop finished in a tie for third place with Charleston Southern and Gardner-Webb as it had the tie breaker with both and earned the #3 seed
- Eagles as a team finished 2nd in the conference in total hits and stolen bases, 4th in batting average, 5th in runs and walks
- Eagles were 2nd in the conference in ERA and strikeouts
- Megan Powell, Reese Basinger, KaDedra Temple and Peyton Rivas all earned Big South All-Conference recognition
- Powell was voted the Newcomer of the Year and named to the first team
- Basinger and Temple joined her on the first time while Peyton Rivas earned honorable mention honors
- Temple leads the team with a .331 batting average, which ranks 3rd in the Big South
- Temple also leads the team with 29 RBI, tied for fourth in the league
- Ashton VanHouse led the team with 46 hits and is second in average (.309)
- VanHouse is second in runs scored (22) and stolen bases (19)
- The 19 stolen bases and 46 hits rank 6th in the conference
- Emma Jackson had a big final week as she's moved into third on the team in average (.292) and into second with 26 RBI
- Jackson also leads the team with 11 doubles which is tied for 3rd in the league and her 27 walks re tied for 4th
- Reese Basinger is 4th on the team with a .277 average and is third with 25 RBI
- Paige Rivas is 3rd in the Big South with 28 stolen bases and her team-high 33 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 78 stolen bases on the year (78-for-86), which is tied for 9th all-time for a single-season (1 back of 8th and 4 back of 7th)
- Winthrop is 37th nationally in stolen bases per game and tied for 38th in total stolen bases (as of games through May 5)
- Paige Rivas is 19th nationally in stolen bases while VanHouse is 76th (as of May 6)
- Basinger and Megan Powell lead way in the circle, combining for 274.1 of the 342 innings this season
- Basinger has a 10-14 record with a 2.48 ERA with 123 strikeouts and 39 walks in 161.0 innings
- Powell is 8-9 with an ERA of 3.21 with 104 strikeouts and 69 walks in 113.1 innings
- Basinger is 4th in the league in ERA while Powell is 7th in the Big South
- Basinger is 2nd in the Big South in strikeouts with 124 and Powell is 6th with 104
- In opposing batting average Powell is 3rd and Basinger is 9th
- Powell leads the conference in batters struck out looking (39) and Basinger is 4th (32)
- 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
- The game vs. Longwood will be the 3,048th game in program history as the Eagles hold an all-time record of 1,243-1,101-3
- 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 2022
- 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 65-101 (130-169 career record)
RECORD BOOK WATCH/CAREER MILESTONES
- Reese Basinger
- Has 465 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 17 strikeouts
- Has a career ERA of 2.30, which ranks 9th all-time in program history (496.1 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 (90)
- Emma Jackson (includes stats from Lees-McRae)
- Reached 100 career hits and now has 110
- Paige Rivas
- In four seasons with the Eagles she's stolen 68 bases, 3rd all-time (3 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 73 stolen bases
- Has 144 hits as an Eagle, becoming the 28th player in program history with 140 or more hits
- Her 144 hits also rank 27th on the all-time list (149 career hits) and is one hit away from 26th
- Megan Powell (includes stats from Lees-McRae)
- Recently surpassed 100 career hits (119) and surpassed 100 career RBI (106)
- 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 111 hits rank 47th 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
- Emma Jackson (Big South Player of the Week / May 6)
- Batted .400 with two home runs, five RBI, six runs and four walks to help the Eagles to three wins
- Opened the week with a home run and two runs in the win over Charleston Southern
- Hit a three-run home run to help the Eagles to a 5-0 win in the series opener with USC Upstate
- Had an RBI double in the 6-4 victory over USC Upstate in final game of series
- Mackenzie Smith (Big South Pitcher of the Week / May 6)
- Made one start but it was a big one as she started the final game of the USC Upstate series
- Allowed two runs on three hits with a walk and three strikeouts in five innings of work
UP NEXT
A victory will put the Eagles in the 2 p.m. game on Friday, May 10. A loss will send the Eagles to an elimination game on Friday at 11 a.m.
For everything Winthrop softball visit
www.winthropeagles.com or follow us on social media @Winthropsoftbal, winthropsoftball (Instagram) or
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