ROCK HILL, S.C. – No. 1 Winthrop moved two runners across in the bottom half of the sixth inning to lift the homestanding Eagles to the 3-2 win over No. 5 Birmingham-Southern Thursday afternoon in game three of the 2008 Big South Softball Championship.

With the win, Winthrop improves to 33-17, while the Panthers fall to 32-27.

Winthrop opened the scoring and took the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first as it moved one runner over.  Tessa Thomas led the inning off with a double and was brought home on a single by the Big South Player of the Year Lisa Kingsmore.

Birmingham-Southern tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the fourth inning as it recorded one run scored.  Grace Stokes led the inning off with a single.  Two batters later, Danielle Honore’ plated Stokes with a double off the right centerfield wall.

Birmingham-Southern took the 2-1 lead in the top half of the fifth as it plated one runner.  Kayla Backlund drew a walk to lead off the inning and moved up to second on a groundout by Melissa Muehlenfeld.  Lindsay Creighton singled through the left side to put Backlund on third.  Stokes brought in Backlund as she reached on a fielder’s choice.

Winthrop plated a pair to take the 3-2 lead in the bottom half of the sixth.  Thomas got things going with a lead off double.  Two batters later, Stephanie Reid singled to the shortstop to put runners on first and second.  Mallory Hogan brought in Thomas with a single, as Reid and Hogan advanced on the throw home.  Reid scored on a single by JoLynn Smith.

Winthrop posted seven hits while the Panthers put down six hits on the day.

In the circle, Cari Wooldridge landed the win for the Eagles, while Bethney Reynoldson took the loss for Birmingham-Southern.

With the win Winthrop will now play the winner of game four tomorrow May 9 at 3:00pm.  Birmingham-Southern will play the loser of game four Friday, May 9 in the first round of the consolation bracket at 12:30pm.

Quotes
Winthrop Head Coach Mark Cooke
“We didn’t feel like we came out with the fire that we’re used to opening up games with. Reynoldson pitched an outstanding game. We were able to do what we do well and that is score runs with the top of the order.”

Birmingham-Southern Head Coach Craig Hyde
“We put up a great fight, but Winthrop is a strong team and came back. We need to come back strong tomorrow.”