Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop is back home this weekend as it hosts the Coach Cooke Memorial Feb. 28 – Mar. 2.
COACH COOKE MEMORIAL
This is the inaugural season for the Coach Cooke Memorial, which honors the memory of the long-time head coach of the Winthrop softball program. Coach Cooke passed away May 15, 2023 and before the 2023-24 season the program was taken over by his former assistant and co-head coach Kendall Fuller who has named this annual tournament in his memory. Cooke retired in 2018 after 34 years of coaching collegiate softball, 29 of which were leading the Eagle program. He is the Big South Conference all-time leader in wins (767), regular season league wins (218) and Big South Tournament wins (53). He was a three-time Big South Coach of the Year and guided the 2007 team to a record 50 wins. Cooke is a member of the Winthrop Athletics Hall of Fame as well as the Big South Conference Hall of Fame.
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Coming off a midweek loss to a hot Coastal Carolina team, which has won nine in a row after defeating the Eagles
- Went 3-1 weekend at the Garnet & Gold Tournament last weekend
- Eagles split the first day with a 3-1 win over Le Moyne before falling 6-2 to Brown
- On the second day the Eagles rallied to defeat St. John's 4-3 in eight innings and Youngstown State 6-3
- Eagles capped off the Carolina Classic rallying to defeat Appalachian State 4-3 in eight innings
- Lonna Addison's RBI double in the eighth provided the game-winning run
- Addison was also impressive in the circle as she picked up two wins and was named the Big South Conference Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday
- Eagles are 1-of-4 league schools with a winning record (as of Feb. 24) and the nine wins are the second most
- Peyton Bryden leads the team with a .407 batting average and is tied with Grayson Buckner for the team lead with eight RBI
- Megan Powell and Emma Jackson have a base hit in four straight games
- Emma Roberson is second on the team with a .333 average followed by Beckham at .289
- Jackson has a team-best streak of reaching base safely in seven straight games after she led off the Coastal game with a single
- As a team the Eagles are batting .247and scored 3.9 runs per game
- The Eagles pitching staff have tossed 94.2 innings (2nd most in the conference) and have 71 strikeouts which are the second-most behind USC Upstate with 78
- Addison is 4-1 in the circle and has a team-low 2.73 ERA to go along with 29 strikeouts and nine walks
- Powell is 4-2 in the circle with a 2.79 ERA and 37 strikeouts to 27 walks in 37.2 innings of work
- Powell tossed a complete game shutout allowing four hits to go along with eight strikeouts and three walks in her start at Long Beach State on Feb. 11
- In addition to having success in the circle, Powell is batting .275 with four runs, three doubles, a triple, a home run and tied for second on the team with seven RBI
- Opened the season with a 4-1 victory over Portland State on Feb. 7
- It was the third straight year the Eagles won their season opener and the eighth time in the last nine seasons
- Return a total of eight players from the 2024 roster with four of them returning starters in Megan Powell, Emma Jackson, Grayson Buckner and Aspen King
- Powell was the 2024 Big South Newcomer of the Year
- Powell batted .240 with 11 runs, four doubles, six home runs and 19 RBI
- In the circle Powell tossed 120 innings going 9-10 with a 3.33 ERA and 111 strikeouts to 72 walks
- Jackson led the team with 29 walks and was second with 27 RBI as she batted .261 on the year
- Buckner batted .228 with 13 runs, three doubles and 14 RBI
- King started 26 of the 38 games she appeared in behind the plate
- Also returning are Kaylyn Little, Emmy Cardenas, Peyton Bryden and Emma Roberson
- There are 13 newcomers on the roster this year with nine freshmen, three sophomores and a junior
- There are only two seniors on the roster (Powell/Jackson)
- This is the 52nd season in the history of the Winthrop softball program
- This Friday's game with Marist will be the 3,068th game in program history as the Eagles hold an all-time record of 1,255-1,108-3
- Captured 1,200th victory in program history on Feb. 18, 2024 in a 7-2 victory over North Carolina A&T at Terry Field
HEAD COACH KENDALL FULLER
- Kendall Fuller is in the second season of 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 career leading the Winthrop program she has a 77-108 (142-176) career record
- In her first season with the Eagles she led the team to within game of a Big South title and NCAA Regional appearance
LOOKING BACK AT 2024
- Eagles came within a game of a Big South Conference championship and trip to an NCAA Regional
- Played their way into the conference tournament (Top 4 teams) in the final week of the regular season by taking 2-of-3 vs. top-seeded USC Upstate, garnering the #3 seed
- Prior to that the Eagles had to finish a halted game vs. Charleston Southern at home and won 7-0 to put themselves in position to reach the tournament
- Won eight of the final 11 games of the season to finish 26-29 overall
- Had four all-conference selections in Megan Powell, Reese Basinger, KaDedra Temple and Peyton Rivas
- Powell was voted the Big South Conference Newcomer of the Year
- As a team the Eagles batted .251 and averaged 3.5 runs per game
- Ranked 2nd in the Big South with a team ERA of 3.01 and led the conference in strikeouts (286)
- The team stole 82 bases on the year, which were the 7th most in program history for a single-season
2025 SEASON HONORS
- Megan Powell – Senior – Pitcher/Utility
- 2025 Big South Preseason All-Conference Team
- Big South Co-Pitcher of the Week
- Picked up two wins in the circle, allowing just one unearned run in 10 innings
- Lonna Addison – Sophomore – Pitcher/Utility
- Big South Conference Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 18)
- Captured two wins in the circle, with the second coming in relief
- In the relief appearance she tossed 7.0 innings allowing one hit with two walks and six strikeouts vs. Appalachian State
- In the win over Appalachian State she also delivered the game-winning RBI with a double in the eighth inning
RECORD BOOK WATCH/CAREER MILESTONES
- Grayson Buckner (includes stats from Lees-McRae)
- Reached 100 career hits with a single in the first vs. Youngstown State (100)
- Reached 50 career RBI after driving in five on the opening weekend (54)
- She also made her 100th start in the game vs. St. John's
- Emma Jackson (includes stats from Lees-McRae)
- Reached 100 career hits last year and now has 121
- Is 12 runs away from 100 and 16 RBI away from 100
- Megan Powell (includes stats from Lees-McRae)
- Reached 100 career hits (132) last season and surpassed 100 career RBI (114)
- Hit her 28th career home run in the 8-3 win over Longwood in the opening game of the Big South Tournament (May 9)
- It was the sixth home run of her Eagle career
- In the circle, Powell reached 400 strikeouts at Radford (Game 1 of doubleheader) and now has 478 in her career
- Recorded her 10th career shutout on Feb. 11 at Long Beach State (4 hits, 3 walks and 8 strikeouts)
- The win at UC San Diego was the 40th of her career
UP NEXT
Eagles will host two games on Tuesday, Mar. 4 as they host Youngstown State at 2:30 p.m. and will play Mount St. Mary's at 5 p.m.
STAY SOCIAL WITH THE EAGLES
For everything Winthrop softball visit
www.winthropeagles.com or follow us on social media @Winthropsoftbal, winthropsoftball (Instagram) or
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