Winthrop softball team wins in Big South Conference opener
Softball team opens Big South play with 6-2 win
Keleigh Romine tossed five strong innings and Maddie Antone drove in three runs to help Winthrop to a 6-2 win over Presbyterian College, in the team’s Big South Conference opener Saturday afternoon at Terry Field.
The Eagles improved to 12-14 overall while PC fell to 10-16. The second game of the doubleheader was interrupted by rain and lightning, forcing the remainder of the game to be pushed until Sunday at 1 p.m. Winthrop is leading 2-1 after 3 ½ innings and the third game of the series will follow.
“In the first game Keleigh threw a good game and Kiley (Majette) came in to finish after a little trouble in the sixth,” said Winthrop co-head coach Mark Cooke. “We hit the ball well, put it in play and made the plays we needed. Our defense was very sharp the first game.”
A five-run second inning aided in the victory over the Blue Hose in the first game. The Eagles loaded the bases with two outs as Shayna Covington hit a grounder back to the pitcher. Katie Brown picked up the ball and her throw to first was high, pulling the first baseman off the bag as Romine and Brooke Ellison scored. Antone then stepped up and hit her third home run of the season, a three-run shot to left center.
Romine helper own cause a little bit in the third inning when she belted a 2-1 pitch over the fence in left for a 6-0 lead.
Romine improved to 3-4 on the year as she tossed five innings allowing two runs on two hits with three walks and a career-high eight strikeouts. Majette tossed the final two innings allowing just one hit and striking out five. The 13 combined strikeouts in a single-game is a season-high for the Eagles.
The two runs for PC came in the top of the sixth when Jonnie Petree sliced a single just over the infield to break up Romine’s no-hit bid. Kelsie Sanchez came up next and hit a high fly ball down the left field line that just made it over the fence and inside the foul pole for her second home run of the season.
Two win track events at 49er Classic
Winthrop track athletes Alesha Love and Quemell Brave captured first place finishes in the women’s 400 meter hurdles and men’s long jump to open the 2017 outdoor season over the weekend at the 49er Classic.
Love, a redshirt senior from Columbia, SC, was timed at 59.39 seconds in the tightly contested 400 meter hurdles competition while Brave, a junior from Georgetown, SC, continued his outdoor performances where he left off in the indoor season by nailing a winning jump of 7.46 meters.
In addition to Love’s first place finish in the 400mh, she finished fifth in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 14.14 seconds. Junior Taryn DeLeon had a top five finish as she placed fourth in the women’s high jump with a leap of 1.65 meters.
On the men’s side, Winthrop had two top three finishes as Cullen Barringer was third in the high jump with a best jump of 1.90 meters and Kevin Mills took third place in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a clocking of 9:20.3.
The Eagles will be back in action in two weeks when they host the annual Adidas Winthrop Invitational Thursday-Friday at Belk Track.
This story was originally published March 18, 2017 at 9:13 PM with the headline "Winthrop softball team wins in Big South Conference opener."