After a 5-1 start to conference play, Winthrop softball looks to continue their success at home this weekend against Charleston Southern
2024-2025 has been a huge year for Winthrop sports, with eSports and cornhole continuing their dominance, and basketball and volleyball improving mightily from 2023-2024.
Winthrop softball has been no exception to this.
Following a 26-29 season in 2024, Winthrop softball is already five wins away from tying their win total from last season. Second year head coach Kendall Fuller attributes part of this success to having a team with more power.
“I think it’s just a little bit of a different lineup. Last year, we were a really fast team. This year, we’re a more powerful team,” coach Fuller said. “So I think we’re hitting [about] one home run per game right now, and I think that’s helping us out in the win column.”
Winthrop softball currently leads the Big South in home runs with 32. The next closest team, USC Upstate, has 25.
The Eagles currently have four players on the team with 6 or more home runs: Emma Jackson, Katie Beck, Megan Powell and Tia Beckham. The Eagles are the only team in the Big South with multiple hitters with 6+ home runs.
Jackson and Powell, who came over from Lees-McRae College with coach Fuller, also spoke about what’s led to the success this season. Both of them highlight how young the team is this year.
“What I really like about our freshmen is they’re very resilient. They take notes, like they look at what’s happening around them, and they kind of adapt quickly,” Jackson said. “Sometimes you don’t see as much resilience in freshmen, some just kind of chug along. But they’ve done a really good job, I think, of just kind of getting with it and realizing that it’s hard, but they know how to figure it out.”
Jackson and Powell are also the only seniors on the team.
Fuller, Jackson and Powell also spoke about an opening season road trip to San Diego as a great bonding experience for the team, which has contributed to their success.
“We started the season out in San Diego, California, which was a huge trip, but everybody really just kind of gelled out there. So it was a good team bonding experience for us, and that kicked things off and gave us a good momentum,” said coach Fuller.
“We got to do a bunch of stuff. We had practice in the morning of our first day, and then we went to the zoo. Then, on our day off, we just explored San Diego. We checked out La Jolla [and] we got to see seals and stuff. It was really fun,” Jackson and Powell said.
Winthrop’s power has not been its only strength, especially for Powell, who not only has 6 home runs but is the team’s star pitcher.
With an 11-5 record and 2.00 ERA, Powell’s numbers jump off the stat sheet. However, Powell herself tries not to focus on it too much, and really focus on the now.
“I try not to think too much about my competitors or anything. I try to just have the mindset of you’re better and you’re gonna go out there and you’re gonna perform,” Powell said.
That mindset seems to have paid off for Powell.
Coach Fuller also discussed how impressive the pitching this season has been, both from Powell and Lonna Addison.
“Megan Powell is our senior leader in the circle, and she’s at the top of the conference right now for the lowest ERA and most strikeouts. So pitching [is] super solid for us. We have transfer pitcher Lonna Addison who’s doing awesome as well. So that really sets the tone,” coach Fuller said.
Despite leading the conference in home runs by a sizable margin, when asked what aspect of the team Fuller wants to see improve as the season wraps up, she mentioned hitting.
“I think we’re still building on the hitting part of things – we’re still getting there. You know, we’ve hit [about] one [home run] for every game, but we can hit more than that. So just some consistency throughout the lineup,” coach Fuller said.
The players also want to see more people come out and support, especially with how successful the season’s been so far. Jackson said the high pace environment of softball should convince people to come out.
“It’s so fast, anything can change in an instant. Like a four run game, you would think, ‘that’s a game, someone’s losing,’ but it can change in an instant,” Jackson said. “I would say it’s really exciting. It keeps you on your toes. There’s always something new. You would think one team’s better than another, they’re gonna blow them out of the water, but anyone really can win on any given day.”
Winthrop softball will aim to bounce back from a road loss against East Tennessee University on March 25, as Charleston Southern comes to Terry Field this Friday and Saturday, March 28-29. Each game will also be broadcast on ESPN+.
