CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern softball closes its five-game homestand Friday and Saturday when it welcomes the Winthrop Eagles for a three-game Big South series. The teams will play a single game Friday at 6 p.m. with a doubleheader slated for 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
 
Weekend Schedule
Friday, April 2
Charleston Southern vs. Winthrop
6 p.m. * Charleston, S.C. * CSU Softball Field * Live Stats
 
Saturday, April 3
Charleston Southern vs. Winthrop (DH)
1 p.m. * Charleston, S.C. * CSU Softball Field * Live Stats * Game One Stream * Game Two Stream
 
Game Notes
Charleston Southern

Recapping Wednesday
Charleston Southern split a doubleheader with crosstown rival College of Charleston at the CSU Softball Field. The visiting Cougars took the first game, 6-2, with the Bucs salvaging the split with a 6-4 win in the nightcap.
 
CofC hit a pair of homers in the first game, with Payton Wade's three-run shot in the sixth breaking the game open. SeaEnna Satcher had a pair of hits, including a solo homer to center in the seventh, and Rhiana hubbard added an RBI on a sacrifice fly but the two homers and three Buc errors proved costly in a College of Charleston win. Holly Clark had four strikeouts in 6.1 innings in the circle in her first start since March 12.
 
CSU rallied from an early 3-1 deficit in the second game with four runs in the second inning and never looked back. Brooklynn Brewington scored a pair of runs in the game, one on a passed ball, while Sarah Brown and Meghan Gagliano, who made her first start since the opening weekend, both scored on wild pitches in the second inning. A fielding error in the second prolonged the inning, which the Bucs took advantage of in scoring two more to take a 5-3 lead after two. CofC got a run back in the fourth, but Ashley Meckley's team-leading fifth homer of the season in the fifth inning gave the Bucs a two-run lead they would not relinquish. Baylee Eaton earned the win after tossing 4.0 innings in relief while allowing just one hit.
 
Recapping Last Weekend
CSU's pitching staff allowed just six runs in 17.0 innings, but Presbyterian took two of three from the Bucs over the weekend at the PC Softball Complex.
 
Annah Junge threw her first complete game of the season in the opener, but the Blue Hose came away victorious in a 2-1 pitcher's duel. PC also took the second game of the series, 4-1, as Blue Hose pitchers Jenna Greene and Haley Haselden threw complete games in both ends of the Saturday doubleheader.
 
The Bucs' offense tied a season high with eight runs in the series finale and used a combined one-hit shutout from Junge and Eaton to run-rule the Blue Hose in five innings, 8-0. CSU scored in all five innings, the first time this season the Bucs scored in every inning. A three-run second inning set the tone, with Ashlyn Cribb hitting a two-run single to account for most of the damage in the inning. Following a lengthy rain delay, the Bucs added a run in the third on a bases-loaded walk, one in the fourth on a Satcher sacrifice fly and two in the fifth on a Hubbard RBI triple and a Meckley RBI single. Eaton got the win after pitching 3.0 hitless innings in relief, striking out three. Junge allowed one hit in 2.0 innings with three strikeouts before the rain delay prompted a pitching change.
 
Season Leaders
Brewington is the Bucs' leader among its regular starters in batting average at .393, a mark that ranks third in the conference, and hits with 22. Meckley has five homers and four doubles to lead CSU in extra-base hits and also has 10 runs batted in to lead the team in that category as well. Brown and Satcher have eight RBI's apiece, while Brewington has a team-high seven stolen bases.
 
In the circle, Junge leads the Bucs in ERA at 4.25 and strikeouts with 19 while pitching a team-best 36.1 innings. Eaton and Alyssa Heinrich have two wins apiece to lead CSU in that category.
 
What to Watch For
Eaton has not allowed a run in each of her last four appearances, spanning 8.2 innings. She is 2-0 with just two hits allowed and six strikeouts in that span.
 
CSU has won at least one game against each of the last four opponents it has faced. The Bucs split doubleheaders with Coastal Carolina and the College of Charleston and won Big South games against Radford and Presbyterian.
 
After hitting just six home runs in its first 10 games, Charleston Southern went yard four times in its midweek doubleheader versus Coastal Carolina.
 
CSU has used four different pitchers this season – Clark, Eaton, Junge and Heinrich. All four saw action in the circle in each of the first two Big South weekends the Bucs played.
 
Scouting Winthrop
Winthrop enters the weekend at 14-17 overall and 2-6 in Big South play. The Eagles have lost four straight entering Friday's game after dropping the second half of a doubleheader to Gardner-Webb and being swept by Longwood.
 
Macy McCall and Ansley Gilreath lead the Eagles with identical .404 batting averages, the top mark in the conference. Gilreath leads the Big South with 12 homers, 32 runs batted in and an .854 slugging percentage, while McCall also has a conference-leading .539 on-base percentage.
 
In the circle, Madyson Watson is the ace of the staff with a 6-9 record, a 3.21 ERA and 123 strikeouts in 102.1 innings across 21 appearances, 12 of which are starts. Aisha Weixlmann has made a team-high 15 starts and is 5-6 with a 4.44 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 69.1 innings.
 
Series Breakdown
Winthrop has a 53-26 advantage in the series, including an 18-11 lead in games played at the CSU Softball Field. The Eagles have won each of the last two series between the teams, including taking two of three from the Bucs in the last meeting in Charleston during the 2019 season.
 
Coming Up on the Schedule
Charleston Southern hits the road for a midweek doubleheader at South Carolina Wednesday. First pitch of the first game will be at 4 p.m., with the second game set to begin at 7 p.m. on the SEC Network.
 
Next Five Opponents

• April 7 at South Carolina (DH)
• April 9-10 vs. Gardner-Webb
• April 13 at Georgia Southern (DH)
• April 17-18 at Campbell
• April 24-25 at Longwood

 
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