Softball Heads To Nationally-Ranked Clemson Tuesday Evening - Winthrop University Athletics (2024)

Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop heads down I-85 for a midweek showdown with nationally-ranked Clemson Tuesday evening at McWhorter Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.

WINTHROP (18-24, 5-7 Big South) at CLEMSON (28-14, 11-7 ACC)
WHERE: Clemson, S.C. | McWhorter Stadium
WHEN: Tuesday, Apr. 16 | 6:00 p.m.
LIVE STATS | ACCNX
FOLLOW: @Winthropsoftbal

SERIES HISTORY WITH CLEMSON

• Winthrop and Clemson meet for the 5^th time
• The Tigers have won all four meetings
• The last meeting was Apr. 18, 2023 in Clemson as the Tigers won 2-0

GLANCE AT THE EAGLES

• Eagles dropped all three games at Longwood this past weekend
• This game marks the end of 8-of-9 games played on the road
• Sitting in a tie for 4^th place in the Big South standings with two conference series remaining
• Rank 2^nd in stolen bases in the Big South, 3^rd in strikeouts and doubles, 4^th in ERA and 4^th in batting average
• In the Eagles last midweek contest they defeated Wofford 6-1 behind a four-run sixth
• Pounded out a season-high 16 hits in an 11-3 win at Wofford (Mar. 13)
• The 16 hits were the most since Apr. 6, 2019 when the Eagles had 21 in the first game of a doubleheader at Radford
• The 11 runs were the most in a single-game since the Eagles had 10 on Apr. 15, 2022 at Gardner-Webb
• In the Mar. 13 matchup the Eagles had six different players with multiple hits and eight different players scored at least one run
• KaDedra Temple has been on a tear the last 11 games, improving her batting from .242 to a team-leading .320 in that span
• Temple has also taken over the team lead in RBI with 22 (10 RBI in last 11 games)
• In nine midweek games this season, Temple is batting .519 (.581 on-base percentage) with five runs and 10 RBI
• Temple currently has a streak six straight games reaching base
• Ashton VanHouse is second on the team with a .306 average and is second on the team in runs (16)
• VanHouse has 16 stolen bases on the year and is 5^th in the league
• Reese Basinger is third on the team with a .294 average as she had an eight-game hitting streak coming to an end at Longwood (was 0-for-10 in the Longwood series)
• Basinger, who didn't have a single at-bat in her first two seasons, is second on the team with 20 RBI
• In nine midweek games Basinger is batting .367 with three runs and 10 RBI
• Emma Jackson is fourth on the team with a .288 batting average and leads the team with a .440 on-base percentage (.455)
• Paige Rivas is third in the Big South with 22 stolen bases and her team-high 25 runs rank tied for tied for 5^th in the conference
• Paige Rivas has now scored 20 or more runs in three straight seasons
• As a team the Eagles have 65 stolen bases on the year (65-for-73), which are three away from the program's single-season Top 10
• Winthrop is 43^rd nationally in stolen bases per game and tied for 34^th in total stolen bases (as of games through Apr. 10)
• Paige Rivas is tied for 12^th nationally in stolen bases while VanHouse is tied for 61^st (as of Apr. 10)
• Basinger and Megan Powell lead way in the circle
• Basinger has a 9-12 record with a 2.72 ERA with 105 strikeouts and 36 walks in 139.0 innings
• Powell is 6-8 with an ERA of 3.52 with 87 strikeouts and 60 walks in 93.1 innings
• Powell started at #22 South Carolina and tossed 6.2 innings allowing one run on four hits with eight strikeouts and four walks
• It was the fourth start this season she's struck out at least eight
• In game two of the Gardner-Webb series Powell tossed a complete game shutout, allowing just four hits
• Basinger is 5^th in the league in ERA
• Basinger is second in the Big South in strikeouts with 105 and Powell is tied for 7^th with 87
• In opposing batting average Powell is 2^nd and Basinger is 8^th
• Powell is tied for the league lead in batters struck out looking (31) and Basinger is 4^th
• This is the 51^st season in the history of the Winthrop softball program
• On Saturday, Feb. 10 the Eagles defeated North Carolina A&T 2-1 on a walk-off in the 3000^th game in program history
• This will be the 3,040^th game in program history as the Eagles hold an all-time record of 1,238-1,098-3
• Captured 1,200^th victory in program history on Feb. 18 in a 7-2 victory over North Carolina A&T at Terry Field

LOOKING BACK AT 2022

• Eagles finished one game outside of the Top 4 in the league standings
• Lost the last nine games of the season, but still finished with a winning record at 26-24
• Return a lot of experience with nine field players that were either regular starters or saw significant playing time throughout the season
• The team's leading batter from last season returns in Paige Rivas, who led with a .329 average
• Paige Rivas also led the team in stolen bases with 15, on-base percentage (.435) and walks with 26
• KaDedra Temple was second on the team with 20 RBI last season and tied with Paige Rivas for second on the team with 25 runs
• Temple also led the team in doubles and home runs
• In the circle the Eagles return 2023 First Team All-Big South selection Reese Basinger, who turned in one of the best seasons in program history
• Basinger set career-highs with 15 wins, an ERA of 1.97 and had 212 strikeouts
• She was the first Eagle with 200-plus strikeouts since Shahna Ashard had 216 in 2005
• Basinger tossed a perfect game on Mar. 25 in a 6-0 win over S.C. State
• Ashton VanHouse who was third on the team in stolen bases with 11 and Temple was fourth with 10

HEAD COACH KENDALL FULLER

• Kendall Fuller is in 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 two-plus seasons as Co-Head Coach of the Eagles, Fuller is 60-98 (125-166 career record)

RECORD BOOK WATCH/CAREER MILESTONES

• Reese Basinger
  • Has 447 career strikeouts in three seasons, which ranks 7^th all-time in program history
  • Became the 9^th pitcher in program history to reach 400 career strikeouts
  • Trails 6^th place by 35 strikeouts
  • Has a career ERA of 2.36, which ranks 9^th all-time in program history (474.1 innings pitched)
  • Has 34 career wins (34-39) and is one win away from the program's all-time Top 10
• Grayson Buckner (includes stats from Lees-McRae)
  • Is closing in on 100 career hits (84)
• Emma Jackson (includes stats from Lees-McRae)
  • Reached 100 career hits and now has 103
• Paige Rivas
  • In four seasons with the Eagles she's stolen 62 bases, 5^th all-time (5 behind 3^rd)
  • Became just the 6^th player in program history to reach 50 career stolen bases and 5^th to reach 60
  • In her career she has 67 stolen bases
  • Has 138 hits as an Eagle and rank 28^th on the all-time hit list (143 career hits) and is seven hits away from 27^th (9 from 26^th and 11 from 25^th place)
• Megan Powell (includes stats from Lees-McRae)
  • Recently surpassed 100 career hits (114) and surpassed 100 career RBI (102)
  • Hit a three-run home run in the final game of the Longwood series, which was the 25^th of her career (4^th as an Eagle)
  • In the circle, Powell reached 400 strikeouts (416) at Radford (Game 1 of doubleheader)
  • The shutout vs. Gardner-Webb was the ninth of her career
• Ashton VanHouse
  • Has 64 career stolen bases, 4^th on the all-time list (3 behind 3^rd place and 7 behind 2^nd)
  • Became just the 5^th player in program history to reach 50 career stolen bases and 4^th to reach 60
  • Reached 100^th career hit in the series at Longwood (102)

2024 SEASON HONORS

• Reese Basinger (Big South Pitcher of the Week / Feb. 20)
  • Went 3-1 on the week with a 1.50 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 23.1 innings
  • First win on the week came in relief at UNC Greensboro

UP NEXT
Winthrop returns home for a key Big South Conference series against Charleston Southern Apr. 19-20. The series begins on Friday, Apr. 19 with a single-game at 4 p.m. and concludes on Saturday, Apr. 20 with a 1 p.m. doubleheader.

For everything Winthrop softball visit www.winthropeagles.com or follow us on social media @Winthropsoftbal, winthropsoftball (Instagram) or www.facebook.com/Winthrop-Softball.