February 28, 1999

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - University of Maryland's hopes of upsetting Notre Dame in the Choo-Choo Classic Sunday faded away in the eighth inning, as the Irish staged a six-run rally to post a 6-0 victory over the Terps. All of Notre Dame's runs, including four on a grand slam, came with two out.

The Terps, who finished 2-1 in the rain-shortened tournament, fell to 13-8 on the season. Notre Dame improved to 7-2. Maryland's scheduled game Sunday against tourney host UT-Chattanooga was canceled due to weather problems which wiped out virtually all of Saturday's action at Frost Field.

Senior pitcher Kelly Shipman, last week's ACC Pitcher of the Week, was saddled with the loss despite giving up just five hits and no runs through the first seven innings. She struck out six and walked just one batter. The winning pitcher was Jennifer Sharron, who spaced four hits, walked two and struck out 10 in improving her record to 3-2. The Terps threatened in the bottom of the first inning when second baseman Amy Sandler lashed a one-out double. But consecutive groundouts by Jennifer Potzman and Cortney Madea ended Maryland's early threat. Sandler was 2 for 4 on the day.

Maryland opened the tournament on Friday with victories over Liberty (1-0) and UT-Martin (11-1).

Next up for Maryland will be a return trip this weekend to Tampa, where the Terps are scheduled to compete in the Speedline Invitational. The tournament is hosted by the University of South Florida. Maryland opened its season in early February at the USF-hosted Louisville Slugger Invitational.

Notre Dame  0 0 0   0 0 0   0 6   6 10 0
Maryland    0 0 0   0 0 0   0 0   0 4  0

Sharron (3-2) and McCleary; Shipman (6-5) and Radford.