April 15, 2001

Box Score 1, Box Score 2

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Easter weekend fans were on the edges of their collective seats more than a few times as the Maryland softball squad (34-14, 1-1 ACC) and ACC foe Georgia Tech battled to a doubleheader split at the North Softball Complex. A pitcher's duel in Game 1 was shattered by freshman Monica Cyphert's (Warren, Ohio) towering two-run bomb, lifting the Terrapins to a 2-0 early victory. The rookie's heroics came before Tech (23-20, 2-4 ACC) squelched a late rally by the determined Terps to hang on in the nightcap, 4-3.

Maryland ace Amanda Bettker (St. Petersburg, Fla.) struck out eight and allowed only four hits in the early game, collecting her fourth straight shutout victory and improving to 12-3 on the season. The fireballer stayed out of trouble for most of the contest and was helped out by her defense, first when centerfielder Michelle Burrell (Owego, N.Y.) nailed a Tech runner at the plate in the third and then when catcher Beth Radford (Dunkirk, Md.) gunned down a Yellow Jacket attempting to swipe second in the fifth.

Bettker and Tech hurlers Mimi Utt and Erin Voeltz exchanged scoreless innings until the sixth. Sophomore Jillian Callaway (Brandywine, Md.) drew a one-out walk before Cyphert stepped in and scrambled Voeltz's first offering well over the left centerfield fence. The lead would be enough for Bettker and the Terps to capture their first conference victory in 2001.

It was the Yellow Jackets, however, that would provide the fireworks in Game 2. Shortstop Tara Knudsen got Georgia Tech on the scoreboard with a three-run blast off Terp starter Jenn Shellhammer (Slatington, Pa.), and after a Casey Leiter (Lake Stevens, Wash.) RBI-single cut the lead in the bottom of the third, Yellow Jacket catcher Tasha Waugh delivered a solo shot in the fourth.

The scrappy Terps would not go quietly. Singles by Callaway and Cyphert led off the bottom of the fourth, but a double play by Georgia Tech left Maryland with a runner on third with two out. Junior Danielle Carpenter (Mt. Laurel, N.J.) bounced a single up the middle to score Callaway, reducing the deficit to two.

Leiter took advantage of Tech fielding miscues to reach second base an inning later. A single to right by Radford sent Leiter toward home plate, and the freshman slid around the tag of Waugh to make it 4-3. But Voeltz, on again in relief for the Yellow Jackets, got the outs she needed in the sixth and squashed a first-and-third, one-out rally in the seventh to allow Tech to escape with the win.

Cyphert tossed four scoreless innings in Game 2, striking out three and allowing only one hit. Shellhammer (8-5) struck out two in the loss.

Burrell, who has hit in 16 out of the last 18 games, finished the day 3-for-8 (.375) with a run scored and a stolen base. Callaway was 2-for-5 (.400) with two runs scored, while Cyphert went 2-for-6 with a run and two RBI. Carpenter hit in both games and drove in a run.

Winners of a school-record thirteen straight games before the loss and now 19 out of the last 22, the Terps hit the road for a pair of doubleheaders. Maryland visits Penn State on Wednesday, April 18, before ACC play continues at Virginia on April 22.

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