March 24, 2001

Box Score

MARIETTA, Ga. - The deceiving scoreboard looked lopsided at the end of the contest, but in reality senior Jenn Shellhammer (Slatington, Pa.) and the Terrapins (21-12) battled the University of Connecticut late into the night for a pulse-pounding ninth-inning thriller at the Georgia Tech Buzz Classic.

In what was actually a pitcher's duel, Shellhammer (5-4) toughed out the extra-inning 6-2 decision and the Maryland offense broke through against the Huskies' third hurler of the ballgame to finish pool play 4-0 and earn the No. 3 seed in Sunday's championship round. The Terrapins receive a bye in the round of 14 and will face Illinois, 1-0 winners over No. 21 Wisconsin, in the Buzz Classic's "elite eight" at 9 a.m.

As the evening grew later at the Al Bishop Softball Complex, teams awaiting their championship bracket seeds gathered to watch the Terps and Huskies grapple for the final lead. They witnessed a 1-1 contest go to the international tiebreaker rule in the eighth and remain knotted at 2-2. After junior Beth Radford (Dunkirk, Md.) crossed the go-ahead run on a bases-loaded wild pitch in Maryland's top of the ninth, the crowd erupted as freshman Monica Cyphert (Warren, Ohio) put the game out of reach with a bases-clearing double.

Maryland's Radford and UConn's Mandy Simjian exchanged home runs in the second to originally tie the contest. Shellhammer (two hits, seven strikeouts) and Connecticut's reliever Caryn Haskins controlled the tempo from there, not allowing a base hit from either team until the sixth. Both line scores read 1-2-0 until each squad scored in the eighth, with Maryland taking advantage of a Husky error and UConn registering a sacrifice fly.

Radford was placed on second to begin the Terp ninth before Jillian Callaway (Brandywine, Md.) reached on an errant sacrifice bunt attempt and took second uncontested. Sophomore classmate Stefanie Robinson (Avenel, N.J.) walked to load the bases, and everyone advanced on Claire Hesson's wild pitch. Cyphert delivered the following offering to right center field for two RBI and came around to score on a Jennifer Potzman (Trexlertown, Pa.) single to right. Down 6-2 in the bottom of the inning, the Huskies juiced the bases with two outs but could only manage a pop up.

Seniors Potzman and Michelle Burrell (Owego, N.Y.) and rookie Cyphert collected base hits in both of Saturday's games, as the Terrapins earned victories 200 and 201 in program history. Radford's home run was her fourth of the season.

The Terps meet the Illini for the second time this season on Friday. Cyphert pitched a one-hit gem on Feb. 23 against fellow freshman sensation Kathryn Nevard at the Florida Atlantic-Worth Invitational. The Terps took advantage of four Illinois errors and won 1-0, with Radford scurrying home on a wild pitch as the game's only run.

Contact: Mark Fratto
301-314-7064 (phone)
301-314-9094 (fax)
301-314-TERP (FanFone)
fratto@wam.umd.edu