ROCK HILL, S.C. – Harnessing more momentum inside Big South Conference play than they had at any previous time prior to taking two of three from Radford over a week ago, the Presbyterian College softball team kicks off a season-closing stretch of nine road meetings within their last 12 bouts, traveling to Winthrop this weekend. A doubleheader in Rock Hill is in the cards for Saturday afternoon, followed by the series closer 24 hours later.

No strangers to one another – having locked horns each season of PC's D-I membership dating back to 2008 – the Palmetto State neighbors have faced off 42 times over the last decade plus, with the Blue Hose earning four separate sweeps against the Eagles including their most recent encounter last spring. However, they've not tasted victory when playing in Rock Hill since the 2015 campaign.

Fifth-year head coach David Williams enters this weekend's set on the verge of triple digits in the win column over his PC tenure, just one W away from hitting 100 since assuming control of the program. Over a coaching career spanning 18 years, Williams has earned 435 victories altogether prior to the Winthrop visit tomorrow.
 
GAMEDAY INFO – SATURDAY, APRIL 15
Presbyterian (21-14, 2-6) at Winthrop (25-15, 7-5) – 1:00 & 3:00 p.m.
Game 1 – Live Stats
Game 2 – Live Stats
 
GAMEDAY INFO – SUNDAY, APRIL 16
Presbyterian (21-14, 2-6) at Winthrop (25-15, 7-5) – 1:00 p.m.
Game 3 – Live Stats
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
- Guiding the Eagles over the same period of time that Williams has resided in Clinton, Winthrop head coach Windy Thees has drastically turned around a program that failed to reach 20 wins a season ago, already reaching seven more than in all of 2022 beside a 7-5 Big South trek. Last seen in Spartanburg winning back-to-back bouts over preseason league favorite USC Upstate, WU will welcome Presbyterian to their first home series of the month of April.

- Winners of their last five matchups inside Terry Field, the Eagles have earned eight wins via shutout on the semester – including the series clincher over the Spartans by a 2-0 difference in Game 2 – led by a 14-win campaign from ace pitcher Reese Basinger.

- The Blue Hose's last opponent, Radford, already made the trip to Rock Hill in the Eagles' last time as the hosting party, downing the Highlanders coincidentally by the same score of 2-1 thrice. Winthrop has earned a win over PC in each of their last 11 occasions with Rock Hill as the backdrop, going 13-6 on their own turf this season.
 
LAST TIME OUT
- Keeping the audience in Clinton on the edge of their seats in consecutive days with a flair for the dramatic, Presbyterian claimed their first conference triumphs last Wednesday and Thursday in instances where a winning result seemed unlikely until the final moments. A two-strike, two-out, two-run walk-off homer by Rebecca Clark in extra innings lifted PC to a Game 1 surprise against the Highlanders, followed up with a six-score comeback in the next contest that was punctuated by a Layna Johnson grand slam.

- Senior hurler Jenna Greene nearly solidified her third career no-hitter in the first act of the series (and would have completed the feat had it not been for a 0-0 score through seven innings), not allowing a successful swing until her 33^rd at-bat of the day.

- Johnson kept up the highlights for Williams' crew at the midway point of the Radford bouts, backing up her 6^th-frame grand slam with a 4-of-4 effort at the plate while mixing in four RBI, four runs scored, and three stolen bases. That marvelous performance was enough to give the senior her second Player of the Week award by the league this year, joining Longwood's Jaden Pone as the only two players in the conference to gain the accolade twice in '23.

- Presbyterian's 2-6 Big South mark presents them with a bit of an uphill battle in order to garner a spot in the league's top four, still with four series in front of them to make up the distance. Oddly enough, despite a 5-1 record when competing at a neutral venue, the Blue Hose have yet to tally a true road victory in seven attempts, carried largely by a 16-6 resume at the PC Softball Complex.