Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop softball is back on the road as it heads to league-leading Radford Apr. 18-19 for a Big South Conference matchup.
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
- Coming off a 7-6 win in eight innings over Wofford on Tuesday
- Katie Beck hit two home runs, including a two-run walk-off in the bottom of the eighth
- Her first homer of the game set the program record for home runs by a freshman and then she tacked on another to become the first Winthrop freshman with 10 home runs
- In the game, Emma Jackson hit a solo home run and reached 100 RBI for her collegiate career
- Both meetings with Wofford this season went extra innings as the Eagles dropped the first meeting 3-2 in 11 innings on Apr. 1
- Tuesday's game against Wofford was Winthrop's first home game since Mar. 29 (were 1-4 on the road trip)
- Now the Eagles are back on the road for three more games this weekend at Radford
- Eagles and Highlanders have met 102 times with Radford leading the series 57-45
- Eagles took last year's regular season series 2-1 and have taken the last two regular season series
- In the middle of a stretch in which the Eagles are playing 9-of-10 games on the road
- Won six of the first seven league games, but have since dropped four of the last five
- Sitting in a three-way tie for second place in the conference standings with USC Upstate and Longwood
- Final two conference series include first place Radford and last place Presbyterian
- Have a 6-7 record in road games and 3-3 against conference opponents
- The win over Gardner-Webb in the opening game of the series gave the Eagles 20 wins on the year in their 30th game
- It was the fastest to 20 wins since the 2007 team did it in 29 games
- Since 2007 the fastest team to 20 wins was the 2010 team (31 games) and more recently the 2023 team did it in 32 games
- As a team the Eagles are batting .251 and have a conference-best 41 home runs
- The 41 home runs rank 7th all-time in program history for a single-season and six away from 6th all-time (record is 64 in 2013)
- Lead the Big South in walks with 132 led by Jackson's league-leading 24 walks
- Tabitha Perry is tied for 6th in the conference with 19 walks and Megan Powell is 7th with 18
- In the 6-5 loss to Charleston Southern the Eagles drew 10 walks in the game, which is a season-high
- It's the most by a Winthrop team since the 2022 team drew 10 walks against Youngstown State
- In the circle the Eagles are second in the league in ERA and third in strikeouts
- Peyton Bryden leads the team in batting (.325)
- Powell is second in the Big South in ERA (2.17) and strikeouts (106) while ranking 3rd in wins with 12
- Powell is second on the team with a .320 batting average followed by Tia Beckham at .296 and Beck at .292
- Powell is the first Eagle to 30 RBI and 1-of-3 Eagles with 30 after Beckham and Beck reached that number Tuesday night
- Powell is also tied with Beck and Beckham for the team lead in home runs with eight
- For just the fourth time in program history the Eagles have three or more players with 30 RBI in a single-season
- It was last done in 2017 and previously in 2006 and 2007
- In the 8-0 win over the Bucs, Powell hit her second grand slam as an Eagle and fourth of her collegiate career
- Jackson leads the team with 30 runs followed by Bryden with 21 and Beckham with 20
- The Eagles pitching staff has tossed 280 innings and have 194 strikeouts
- Powell is 12-10 in the circle and 106 strikeouts to 64 walks in 122.2 innings of work
- Powell has reached 10 or more wins in three of her four collegiate seasons (18 is career-best in 2023)
- 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
- Lonna Addison is 9-5 in the circle with a 3.32 ERA to go along with 75 strikeouts and 25 walks
- Grabbed a 2-1 road series win at Gardner-Webb Mar. 21-22
- Eagles won six straight games before dropping the second game of the series with the Runnin' Bulldogs
- The Eagles opened conference play by sweeping the series from Longwood at home Mar. 14-15
- Winthrop has now won five straight against Longwood and are tied atop the Big South standings with Radford at 3-0
- 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 16 runs in the win over Norfolk State
- Went 3-1 weekend at the Garnet & Gold Tournament
- 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
- 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
- The matchup with the Tigers is the 2,394th game in program history as the Eagles hold an all-time record of 1,270-1,121-3
- 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 92-120 (157-189) 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 Pitcher of the Week (Mar. 24)
- Earned two wins in the circle, helping the Eagles earn a 2-1 road series win at Gardner-Webb
- Earned a win in the opening game of the series allowing two earned runs with two walks and six strikeouts
- In the same game she was 2-for-4 with a run, home run and two RBI
- In the series-clinching game she tossed a complete game allowing no earned runs on five hits with a walk and two strikeouts for her 11th win
- Big South Pitcher of the Week (Mar. 17)
- Earned two wins in the circle, helping the Eagles sweep the series with Longwood
- She allowed one run in 12 innings of work and had eight strikeouts
- Also was 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI in the opening game victory over the Lancers
- Big South Co-Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 11)
- 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 (119)
- Reached 50 career RBI after driving in five on the opening weekend (64)
- 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 145
- Reached 100 career runs (111)
- Reached 100 career RBI with a solo home run vs. Wofford (100)
- Homered against ETSU on Mar. 25 and now has 21 in her career
- Megan Powell (includes stats from Lees-McRae)
- Reached 100 career hits (160) last season, passing 150 in the Gardner-Webb series
- Surpassed 100 career RBI (137) and now has 49 in her Winthrop career
- Hit her 35th career home run in the 3-2 loss at Wofford
- Hit a grand slam in the 8-0 win over Charleston Southern, which was the fourth grand slam of her collegiate career (two at Lees-McRae)
- She now has 14 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 546 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 and is currently one win from 50
UP NEXT
Eagles step away from league play for the final time this season as they'll head to Columbia, S.C. for a midweek contest with nationally-ranked South Carolina on Wednesday, Apr. 23 at 6 p.m.
