Rock Hill, S.C.— Looking to extend its winning streak the Winthrop softball team will be back in action this weekend as it hosts the Winthrop Eagle Classic Mar. 7-9.
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Winthrop has won three straight after defeating Youngstown St. and Mount St. Mary's on Tuesday
- In the two games the Eagles totaled 14 runs behind four home runs, three doubles and a triple
- In the last three games the Eagles have eight home runs and now have 17 on the year
- As a team the Eagles are batting .265 and the 17 home runs are the second-most in the Big South
- Last weekend the 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
- 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 .356 batting average while Emma Jackson and Emma Roberson are next at .300
- Katie Beck had a huge weekend at the plate at the Coach Cooke Memorial, going 7-for-12 with four runs and 9 RBI
- Beck is tied for the team-lead in RBI with 11 on the year and is batting .400 (35 at-bats)
- Jackson, Megan Powell and Tia Beckham are second with 10
- Powell and Jackson each have four-game hitting streaks heading into the weekend while Beck has a team-best seven game streak of reaching base
- The Eagles pitching staff have tossed 134.2 innings and have 98 strikeouts
- Lonna Addison is 6-2 in the circle with a 2.88 ERA to go along with 40 strikeouts and 10 walks
- Powell is 5-3 in the circle with a 2.30 ERA and 50 strikeouts to 34 walks in 51.2 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 .283 with eight runs, three doubles, a triple, three home runs
- 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 Norfolk State will be the 2,372nd game in program history as the Eagles hold an all-time record of 1,259-1,110-3
- 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 81-110 (146-178) 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
- 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
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 (104)
- Reached 50 career RBI after driving in five on the opening weekend (57)
- 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 129
- Is 7 runs away from 100 and 10 RBI away from 100
- Had two home runs on Mar. 4 and now has 18 in her career
- Megan Powell (includes stats from Lees-McRae)
- Reached 100 career hits (138) last season and surpassed 100 career RBI (117)
- Hit her 30th career home run in the 8-3 win over Youngstown St. on Mar.
- She now has nine home runs in her Eagle career
- In the circle, Powell reached 400 strikeouts at Radford (Game 1 of doubleheader) and now has 490 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 have no midweek games before they dive into Big South Conference play Mar. 15-16 against Longwood at home. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday, Mar. 15 beginning at 1 p.m. and then a single game on Sunday, Mar. 16 at 1 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
www.facebook.com/aWinthrop-Softball.
