Softball Welcomes Sunshine As Team Takes On Coppin State Sunday

April 12, 2003

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - After having a week's worth of games rained out, the Terps (11-13, 0-4 ACC) hope to improve upon their record after dropping two close games to Georgia Tech. This Sunday's doubleheader will be against local competitor Coppin State (7-14, 5-3 MEAC). The first game will begin at 1:00 p.m. Parking and admission are free.

SCOUTING COPPIN STATE

Coppin State (7-14, 5-3 MEAC) got off to a slow start this season when the team dropped its first five contests at the Seahawk Classic (Mar. 21-22). The Eagles picked up momentum in games against George Washington, Hampton, and Delaware State, but hit a mid-schedule six-game skid. Things have turned the corner for the Eagles recently, who are 4-1 in their most recent games.

The Eagles' offense is led by sophomore Jamie Imhof. Imhof is currently sixth in the MEAC in batting average at .340, followed by teammate Elisha Carter who's hitting .339 this season.

Imhof (6-5) also doubles as the team's pitching ace. She holds a team-best 3.05 ERA and has fanned 123 batters. The other Eagle assuming a role in the pitching circle is junior Ajaye Pope (1-9).

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME FOR TERRAPIN SOFTBALL

After playing seven week's worth of games on the road, the Terps (11-11) finally opened up their home schedule against Hofstra on Sat., March 29 with a bang. The Terps slugged 12 hits to hurt the Hofstra Pride, 8-1. The hits kept coming against George Mason this past Wednesday as Maryland cracked out 12 more hits per game in a doubleheader. Maryland showed no mercy to the Patriots in the first game, which ended 11-1 in the sixth inning off Monica Cyphert's (Warren, Ohio) 3-run blast to left field. The hot hitting carried over to game two, when the Terps struck early and often to bring home an 8-3 win.

The Terps suffered two tough ACC losses to Georgia Tech last weekend. Yellow Jackets pitcher Jessica Sallinger shut down the Terp offense in the first game, hurling seven innings of one-hit ball and striking out ten. The Terps were leading the game going into the fifth inning, but defensive miscues took the game out of their hands and dealt them a 5-1 loss. The second game was a masterful performance by Monica Cyphert. She threw a complete game two-hitter and allowed no earned runs. The Yellow Jackets scored their only run in the second inning off a fielding error. From that point on, the Terps had trouble getting their bats going and collected only three hits in the 1-0 loss. The Terps have lost three of their past four games against the Yellow Jackets by a score of 1-0.

TURNING THE CORNER

The Terps are showing renewed confidence in the past two weeks now that they are playing on a more consistent basis. Before Maryland's appearance at the Buzz Classic three weeks ago, the team was idle for two weeks due to inclement weather that made the field at the Terrapin Softball Complex unplayable. The Terps have had 21 games wiped off their schedule thanks to Mother Nature.

The Terps are getting clutch performances from almost every spot in the lineup. Five batters are hitting over .300 in situations with runners in scoring position, and nine Terps are advancing runners more than 40 percent of the time.

Monica Cyphert has homered in three consecutive games. Her first homer came in Mar. 29's win over Hofstra. The blast locked Cyphert's place in Terrapin history as the first Maryland player to homer at the year-old Terrapin Softball Complex. The first homer at the field was hit by Virginia's Ruby Rojas on Apr. 21, 2002.

Centerfielder Samantha Sweeney (Marlton, N.J.) leads the team with eight multiple-hit games. Senior Jillian Callaway (Brandywine, Md.) is second with six, and sophomore shortstop Malissa Moczulski (Burlington, N.J.) owns four. There are four Terps who are tied with three multi-hit performances.

Maryland's first game against George Mason, which ended in the sixth due to the eight-run mercy rule, was the first time Maryland has mercied an opponent this season. Last year, Maryland won shortened games against Samford, Delaware, LaSalle, Elon, and Brown.

ANOTHER AWARD ON THE SHELF

Redshirt-junior Samantha Sweeney (Marlton, N.J.) was the only Terrapin named to the 2003 Buzz Classic All-Tournament Team. During the four-game weekend showcase, Sweeney batted .438 (7-for-16) with three runs scored and four stolen bases.

This marks the first time Sweeney has been named to the Buzz Classic All-Tournament Team. Last season, she was named to both the Bama Bash and George Mason Spring Clash All-Tournament teams.

Last month, Sweeney was awarded the Weaver-James-Corrigan Scholarship for excellence in academics. The $5,000 scholarship is given to ACC scholar-athletes who plan to attend graduate school in the upcoming year. Sweeney is one of 19 ACC athletes and one of two softball players to win the prestigious scholarship. She plans to use the award for her postgraduate studies in sports psychology.

NO STOPPING TWEEDY

Sophomore Crystal Tweedy (Dumfries, Va.) has been on a hitting rampage as of late. The outfielder, who head coach Gina LaMandre praised throughout the preseason for her hard work and improvement from a year ago, was batting .182 after Maryland's contest against Georgia Tech Mar. 22. In the past t weeks, Tweedy has catapulted to a team-leading .314 batting average.

Tweedy has collected ten hits in her past nine games. Her most notable performance came against Hofstra Mar. 29 when she went 2-for-3 and knocked in four runs.

FEAR THE CIRCLE

The pitching duo of Monica Cyphert (Warren, Ohio) and Jessica Aditays (Shrewsbury, Mass.) is putting together a career season. The tandem is sporting a 1.84 ERA and opposing batters are hitting a mere .229 against the pair.

Aditays is coming off a three-hit performance against George Mason. She struck out four batters in the complete game victory. In her first ACC game of the year, she held the league's second-best offensive team, Florida State, to two runs through five innings.

Teammate Cyphert has been equally impressive. In her last start against Georgia Tech, the junior held the Yellow Jackets to two hits, struck out six and gave up no earned runs in the complete game loss.

Cyphert has recently surpassed Tisha Killian on Maryland's all-time strikeout list. The junior is currently in third with 249 career K's.

Softball Welcomes Sunshine As Team Takes On Coppin State Sunday

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