Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop softball opens Big South Conference action Mar. 14-15 with Longwood.
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Coming off a 2-3 weekend that ended on a three-run walk off home run by Tia Beckham in a 4-2 win over Western Carolina
- Eagles are now tied with Gardner-Webb for the second-most wins in the league this season
- Eagles are 1-of-4 league schools with a winning record (as of Mar. 12)
- In seven games last week the Eagles had nine doubles, a triple and 12 home runs
- In addition they were 11-of-12 on the bases with Grayson Buckner snagging a team-high three steals
- As a team the Eagles are batting .266 and have a league-best 25 home runs
- Eagles were 2-2 in the Coach Cooke Memorial with both losses were by a single run and are now 3-2 in one-run games this year
- Scored a season-high 10 runs in the win over St. Bonaventure
- 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
- Senior Emma Jackson leads the team with a .338 average after batting .500 over the seven games last week
- Freshman Katie Beck hasn't played enough games or had enough at-bats to rank among the league leaders but is averaging .346
- Beck is ranked among the league leaders in home runs (T-3rd), OPS (5th), and RBI (7th)
- Her 20 RBI lead the team while Beckham is next with 17 and Megan Powell is third with 16
- The Eagles pitching staff have tossed 167.2 innings and have 132 strikeouts
- Powell is 7-5 in the circle with a 2.45 ERA and 72 strikeouts to 43 walks in 68.2 innings of work
- In the win over Norfolk State, Powell struck out 10 batters to reach 500 in her collegiate career
- It was her first appearance this season in which she recorded 10 or more strikeouts
- 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 .297 with 12 runs, three doubles, a triple, five home runs and the 16 RBI
- Lonna Addison is 6-3 in the circle with a 3.27 ERA to go along with 50 strikeouts and 13 walks
- 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
- 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 Norfolk State will be the 2,377th game in program history as the Eagles hold an all-time record of 1,261-1,113-3
- 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 83-113 (148-181) 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
- 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
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
- Katie Beck – Freshman – Pitcher/Utility
- Big South Conference Freshman of the Week (Mar. 4)
- Went 7-for-12 at the plate with four runs, two doubles, three homers and nine RBI on the week
- Drove in a career-high five runs in the 5-1 win over a strong Marist team
- Drove in three runs vs. St. Bonaventure, as she finished with two home runs in the game
- Emma Jackson – Senior – Outfielder
- Big South Conference Player of the Week (Mar. 11)
- Went 7-for-12 at the plate with four runs, two doubles, three homers and nine
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 (108)
- Reached 50 career RBI after driving in five on the opening weekend (59)
- 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 136
- Is two runs away from 100 and seven RBI away from 100
- Homered against Norfolk State on Mar. 7 and now has 19 in her career
- Megan Powell (includes stats from Lees-McRae)
- Reached 100 career hits (143) last season and closing in on 150
- Surpassed 100 career RBI (123)
- Hit her 31st career home run in the 10-8 loss to Queens on Mar. 8
- She now has 10 home runs in her Eagle career
- In the circle, Powell reached 500 strikeouts in her start against Norfolk State as she struck out 10 (Now has 512 in career)
- It was her second appearance as an Eagle with 10 or more strikeouts
- On Mar. 16 in the second game of a doubleheader at Presbyterian she struck out 12
- Recorded her 11th career shutout on Mar. 7 vs. Norfolk State as she allowed one hit, issued one walk and struck out 10 in five innings
- The win at UC San Diego was the 40th of her career
UP NEXT
Eagles have a midweek contest on Tuesday, Mar. 18 as they head down to Patriots Point, S.C. to take on the College of Charleston at 6 p.m.
STAY SOCIAL WITH THE EAGLES
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