April 11, 2005

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina softball returns to the road Tuesday as they travel to Rock Hill, S.C. to face the Winthrop Eagles in a 5 p.m. doubleheader. USC is 24-20 and hopes to snap a six-game losing streak. The Eagles are 24-17 and currently have a six-game win streak in tact.

This marks the 43rd meeting between the two teams. The Gamecocks lead the series 37-5. The last meeting was in 1998 and USC swept the doubleheader 4-1 and 10-2. The last time the Eagles defeated the Gamecocks was in 1983 and Winthrop won both games 1-0. The Gamecocks currently have a 25-game win streak over the Eagles.

USC is only the second SEC school Winthrop will have faced this year while the Eagles are the second Big South team the Gamecocks will have seen. Winthrop lost to Georgia 10-0 back in February. South Carolina split with Coastal Carolina earlier in the season and is 1-1 against the conference.

Winthrop is coming off of a two-game sweep against East Tennessee State. Janiva Willis leads the Eagles with a .351 batting average, 47 hits, 34 runs and 22 RBI. Willis also has 11 doubles on the season. In the circle, Shahna Ashard leads with a 1.77 ERA and a 13-8 record in 24 appearances. Ashard has 159 strikeouts and has allowed only one home run on the year. Pitcher Kelli Johnson has a 1.88 ERA and an 11-8 record in 21 appearances.

For the Gamecocks, Meghan Cornett has a .398 average with 53 hits. McKenna Hughes leads with 33 RBI and eight home runs and Jessica Josker leads in hits with 55. In non-conference games, USC is 17-9. Josker leads with a .433 average and 42 hits while Cornett is hitting .386 with 32 hits. Hughes is hitting .333 with 26 hits and 26 RBI.

The games can be followed live through livestats and live audio broadcast on the Internet at uscsports.com.