Softball Terps Take On Expanded Field At 13th Annual ACC Championship Tournament

May 12, 2004

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Maryland softball will be heading to Tallahassee, Fla. this weekend to participate in the 13th annual ACC Championship Tournament. The No. 6 Terps (31-25, 1-9 ACC) will take on the No. 3 Cavaliers of Virginia in the tournament's second game, this Friday at 1:30 p.m. All of Maryland's tournament contests will be webcasted live on both www.umterps.com and www.theacc.com.

No. 4 Georgia Tech and No. 5 NC State's game will kick off the weekend's competition at 11:00 a.m. Following Game 1, Maryland and Virginia will hit the diamond at 1:30 p.m. If Maryland wins Game 2, the team will then take on No. 2 North Carolina at 7:30 p.m. If Maryland loses its first contest, the team will play against the loser of Game 3 between No. 1 Florida State and the winner of Game 1 at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The championship game will be played Sunday, May 16 at either noon or 4:20 p.m. If the game is played at noon, Comcast SportsNet, FoxSports South and the Sunshine Network will air the game on tape delay at 4:30 p.m. If the game is played at 4:20 p.m., the contest will be aired live on Comcast SportsNet, FoxSports South and the Sunshine Network.

FOUR YEARS RUNNING

Maryland and Virginia (38-24, 6-4 ACC) will face each other in the ACC Tournament for the fourth straight year and in the tournament's first round for the second straight year. Last year, Virginia won the first game against Maryland, 4-0.

After Maryland beat North Carolina in an elimination game, the Terrapins faced the Cavaliers yet again. The Terps lost a 6-3 match-up to the Cavaliers and were eliminated from the tournament. Virginia went onto the championship game where the team lost to Florida State.

Maryland is 3-6 all-time against Virginia in the ACC tournament.

HOW MARYLAND FARED

The Terps took on a demanding field in the ACC this year. The league faced two Top 25 teams in Florida State and Georgia Tech. Virginia also had a tough hitting team that tied with Florida State for the best batting average in the conference (.297). North Carolina received strong pitching from its duo of Crystal Cox and Alison Yin, while NC State offered up strong pitching in the program's first season.

The Terrapins opened their ACC schedule against NC State. The teams split their conference doubleheader with NC State winning the first game, 5-0, and Maryland taking the second game, 1-0. Abbie Sims held Maryland hitless through three innings in the first game. Jessica Aditays pitched her second shutout of the season against the Pack in game two.

North Carolina swept Maryland for the first time in a conference doubleheader since 2001. Maryland lost its games by scores of 1-0 and 5-3. Monica Cyphert's solo home run tied the second game at 3-3, but the Maryland defense couldn't hold up to keep UNC off the board in the sixth inning.

The Terrapins faced No. 2 Florida State just a day after Virginia broke the Seminoles 23-game ACC win streak. The Noles showed up in top form, however, and took the first game 7-0 behind the arm of Casey Hunter. She gave up only one hit for the complete game victory. Cyphert and Jessica van der Linden maintained a pitchers' duel, with van der Linden coming out on top with a 2-1 win. Maryland's only run came from Lindsay Klein's solo home run.

Maryland's conference woes continued against Virginia. The Terps dropped the first game, 6-1, then lost the second game, 11-3 in the sixth inning. Virginia hurler Joanna Barstad tossed a one-hitter in the first game. Her teammate Erin Horn struck out 10 batters for a win in the second game.

The Terrapins rounded out their conference season in a road game against Georgia Tech. Much like the second game against Virginia, Maryland was run-ruled by Georgia Tech in the sixth inning, 10-2. Before the bottom of the sixth inning, the score stood at 3-2 in Georgia Tech's favor. Georgia Tech starter Jessica Sallinger gave up two earned runs to the Terrapins, the most she's allowed since giving up three Feb. 28 to then-No. 7 Michigan.The Terrapins regrouped for the second game but still came up short. Aditays gave up only three hits and one run, but the Terrapin offense couldn't manufacture any runs against Tech starter Erin Voeltz and took a 1-0 loss.

CYPHERT NAMED ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Senior pitcher Monica Cyphert was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Softball Player of the Week for May 10. Cyphert went 2-1 with extra-inning wins over Delaware and Villanova.

The Warren, Ohio native pitched a total of 26 ninings during the week. She struck out a combined 25 batters during her appearances.

Cyphert fanned a season-high 11 batters against Delaware Thursday, May 6. She pitched eight innings for a complete game, 3-2 win.

Saturday, May 8, against No. 13 Alabama, Cyphert hurled another complete game. She struck out five Crimson Tide batters, but took a 3-0 loss.

The senior hurler had a perfect game going against Villanova May 9, through seven and one-third innings. She ended up going 11 innings for a 1-0 complete game victory.

This is the first time Cyphert has been chosen as the league's player of the week in her career. She is also the only Terrapin to receive the award this season.

Softball Terps Take On Expanded Field At 13th Annual ACC Championship Tournament

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