Winthrop softball team wins doubleheader, women’s tennis still undefeated
Softball team wins two in doubleheader
Winthrop softball won both games of a doubleheader against Longwood 5-4 and 3-2 to complete a three-game series sweep Saturday at Terry Field.
The Eagles have won four straight improving to 20-17 overall and 6-2 in the Big South. The losses drop Longwood to 12-19 overall and 1-5 in the league. Winthrop plays April 5 away against Gardner-Webb for a single-game to complete the regular season series.
It was the first time the Eagles have swept a three-game series from Longwood since its first season in the Big South (2013). It’s also the first time the Lancers have been swept in a series by a league opponent since 2014 at Coastal Carolina.
“The first game was a real, hard fought win for us,” said Winthrop co-head coach Mark Cooke. “They got two runs in the top of the 7th and we came back and got three. The icing on the cake was Morgan (Lowers) going on to second base to get in a rundown and we score from third. I just thought it was a great heads up play and Westbrooks did a good job reading the situation. Can’t take away from the game that Kiley (Majette) and Keleigh (Romine) pitched, they threw well out there. The second game we just got runners on and were able to drive them in.”
In the first game both teams combined for four runs in the first six innings and then combined for five in the seventh inning alone. Longwood broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the seventh with a two-run, two-out triple by Kelsey Sweeney. Winthrop then scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh capped off by a Lowers infield walk-off single.
The rally began with a lead-off single by Shayna Covington as she split the legs of the pitcher with a single up the middle. Maddie Antone followed with a double to left center to put runners and second and third with no outs. Ashley Westbrooks stood in and delivered a two-run double down the left field line to tie the game. Lowers followed with a slow chopper between the pitcher and first base as she raced to the bag for the infield single while Westbrooks moved over to third. Lowers continued on to second getting in a rundown as Westbrooks moved past third in hopes of being able to cross home plate for the winning run. Longwood pitcher Elizabeth McCarthy threw the ball to second base where centerfielder Jordan Clark had raced in to cover. Clark eventually ran down Lowers, but Westbrooks took off for home plate and slid in for the winning-run.
Longwood led 2-0 after two innings and then the Eagles scored a run in the 5th and 6th innings to tie the game. The tying run came on Leah Young’s seventh home run of the season.
Romine started the game in the circle for Winthrop and tossed a solid 5.1 innings allowing two runs on four hits with four walks and four strikeouts. Majette came in relief to earn the win tossing the final 1.2 innings allowing two runs on three hits with no walks and three strikeouts.
McCarthy started the game for Longwood and allowed two runs on nine hits with no walks and four strikeouts. Sydney Mundell (0-1) suffered the loss in relief after allowing three runs on four hits with a walk and a strikeout in 0.2 innings of work.
In game two of the twinbill the Eagles held on for the win as Longwood threatened in the top of the seventh by loading the bases with two outs. Majette settled down and struck out the final batter to clinch the win and earn her third victory of the weekend.
Majette tossed a complete game allowing two runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts as she is now 11-9 on the year. Sydney Gay took the loss for the Lancers as she allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits with no walks and four strikeouts in six innings and is now 9-10.
The Eagles jumped on Longwood for a 1-0 lead in the first as Antone delivered an RBI single to right, scoring Paige Haley. The lead extended to 2-0 in the third when Antone doubled to right center, scoring Haley all the way from first base.
A two-run home run by Glenn Walters in the top of the fifth tied the game at 2-2, but the Eagles came right back to snag the lead. Covington reached on an error to start the inning and moved to third on a single up the middle from Westbrooks. Covington scored on a slower grounder to second by Lowers.
“Getting a sweep of Longwood is very important,” Cooke said. “I thought Longwood was a good team, they’ve been like us and gone out and played the best competition they can. It shows when you play games like this that if you’re battled tested they’re tough, hard-nosed ball games. The top of our lineup is getting base hits, but the bottom of the lineup was turning it over. It was a fun day for us.”
Lacrosse falls 17-16 in Big South opener
The Winthrop lacrosse team rebounded from an early seven-goal deficit Saturday but was unable to hold onto its second-half lead, falling 17-16 to the Campbell Camels in the Big South opener.
Campbell (4-6, 1-0) came out firing on offense, scoring seven goals in the opening 15 minutes, taking a 7-0 lead. After the Eagles pulled two goals back the Camels responded on continued to lead by seven with 5:47 to play.
Winthrop (3-8, 0-1) finished the first half just as hot as the Camels started as the Eagles scored five goals in the final five minutes, closing the deficit to 9-7 at the break.
The Eagles were able to carry the momentum from the end of the first half into the start of the second. Winthrop netted five goals in the opening nine minutes to take a 12-9 lead with 21 minutes on the clock.
Campbell battled back, scoring five of the next six goals to take a 14-13 lead with just under 12 minutes remaining in the contest. The Eagles tied the game again at 14-14. The Camels again netted three straight goals to regain a three-goal edge at 17-14 with less than six minutes on the clock.
Winthrop scored two more goals, getting within one with 3:27 left in the contest. In the final minute, the Eagles had a shot to tie the game, but the Campbell netminder came up with a big save with less than 10 seconds on the clock and the Camels were able to run out the clock.
Kristen Shriver led the Eagle with six goals on 10 shots. Nicole Beatson and Katherine Judge each added four goals while Bianca Tedesco and Sydney Cope each scored once. Beatson recorded a season-high 10 draw controls while Judge added six.
The Eagles will close out a four-game road stretch on Wednesday with a 7 p.m. contest at High Point.
Women’s tennis unbeaten in Big South at 7-0
The Winthrop women’s tennis team captured a key 5-2 Big South Conference victory over Liberty on Saturday in a battle between two of the unbeaten conference teams.
The win improves Winthrop’s overall record to 16-4 and 7-0 in Big South play while Liberty falls to 8-10 overall and 5-1 in conference. The Eagles will have a chance to clinch the regular season April 7 when they travel to Charleston Southern for the final match before the conference tournament begins.
Winthrop earned the doubles point by winning the No. 2 and 3 positions. Senior Caitlin Cridland and freshman Alisa Soloveva knocked off Liberty’s Emily Groeneveld and Mariely Hassey 6-4, and freshmen Aliya Mourad and Aida Kelic downed Eugenia Camacho and Rebekuh Anderson 6-3 to clinch the point.
Sophomore Lauren Proctor gave the Eagles a 2-0 advantage by defeating Anderson (6-2, 6-4) at No. 1 singles. Soloveva won her No. 2 match over Evangeline Crist (6-1, 6-3) to make it 3-0 before Liberty earned its first point with a 6-2, 7-5 win at No. 6 by Camacho over Mourad.
Cridland then clinched the match by defeating Anna Dollar (2-6, 6-2, 6-2) at No. 3 to give Winthrop a 4-1 advantage. Megan Kauffman added a win at No. 4 while Kelic fell at No. 5.
This story was originally published April 1, 2017 at 10:38 PM with the headline "Winthrop softball team wins doubleheader, women’s tennis still undefeated."