March 18, 2005
MARYLAND (7-8, 0-0 ACC) hosts the MARYLAND INVITATIONAL
March 19-20, 2005 | University of Maryland
Terrapin Softball Complex (1,200) | College Park, Md.
Game Notes
The University of Maryland softball team opens its home schedule at the Terrapin Softball Complex when it hosts the Maryland Invitational on Saturday and Sunday. The Terrapins will face Mount St. Mary's, Binghamton and Columbia in pool play before a champion is crowned Sunday at 4 p.m. First up for the Terps is an 11 a.m. matchup with Mount St. Mary's on Saturday, followed by a 1 p.m. contest against Binghamton. Pool play concludes Sunday when the Terrapins take on Columbia at noon, followed by the consolation (2 p.m.) and championship games (4 p.m.). Gametracker is available for all of Maryland's games over the weekend.
NOTING THE TERRAPINS
Maryland (7-8, 0-0 ACC) won three games at the Florida State Invitational last weekend, earning victories over Georgia State, Florida A&M and St. Joseph's. Senior Crystal Rizzuto and sophomore Lindsay Klein were named to the all-tournament team.
Crystal Tweedy and Lindsay Klein continue to pace the Terps offensively, as Klein opened the year with a nine-game hit streak and is hitting .333, while Tweedy is batting a team-high .342 through 15 games and is second on the team with 13 hits.
Maryland is 9-1 all-time in home openers, and has not lost its first home game of the year since the program's inaugural season in 1995.
RECAPPING THE FLORIDA STATE INVITATIONAL
After entering the weekend in Tallahassee, Fla., with a 4-6 overall record that included wins over ranked opponents Missouri and Georgia, the Terrapins collected three wins at the FSU Invitational.
Facing their fourth opponent that was either ranked or receiving votes in the Top 25 polls, the Terrapins dropped a close game to eventual tournament champion Southern Illinois after defeating Georgia State in extra innings on the first day of competition. On the second day, the Terps again had mixed results as they dropped a game to Troy State, 6-2, but defeated a tough Florida A&M team, 2-1. In the final day of bracket play, the Terps shut out St. Joseph's behind a strong pitching performance by Abbey Welch.
For their solid play over the weekend, Crystal Rizzuto and Lindsay Klein were named to the all-tournament team. Over five games, Klein went 4-for-15 at the plate (.267) with a double and two RBI. Rizzuto, meanwhile, played five errorless games at third base and hit .286.
Also standing out in Tallahassee were Crystal Tweedy, who hit an oustanding .357 (5-for-14), Nneka Cardoza, who played flawlessly on defense at shortstop and Abbey Welch, who collected two wins and pitched a one-hitter against St. Joe's.
TERPS IN THE ACC RANKINGS
Several Terrapins are at or near the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference top 10 lists. Crystal Tweedy ranks 10th in the conference with a .342 batting average, while Lindsay Klein is sixth for hits (15, 1.07 per game) and 10th for total bases (21, 1.40 per game).
Keri Lounge is sixth in the league for doubles, Jenny Belak ranks fifth for stolen bases and Nneka Cardoza is fourth for walks per game.
Terp pitcher Elyse Lucas is eighth in the ACC in strikeouts, as she averages over six per game.
NOTHING GETS BY
The Terrapins, as a team, have made solid defense their trademark in 2005. Maryland is ranked second in the conference in team fielding with a .972 fielding percentage, a conference-low 13 errors and three double plays turned.
FRESH FACES
Head coach Gina LaMandre's squad welcomes seven new faces in 2005. Freshmen Jenny Belak, Meghan Booth, Medley McGuire and Whitney Reigel are the Terps' class of 2008, while sophomore Abbey Welch joins the program from Longwood University and juniors Nikki Smith and Crystal Crews come to College Park from Indian River Community College in Fort Pierce, Fla.
Welch (5-2) has made an immediate impact, as the versatile sophomore has seen time at pitcher and in the outfield. The La Plata, Md., native gave the Terrapins their first victory of the year with an outstanding pitching performance against Missouri (Feb. 19). She notched two more victories at the Red and Black Challenge against UNC Greensboro (March 4) and then-No. 13/17 Georgia (March 5). Welch's most impressive performance to date came at the Florida State Invitational, where she one-hit St. Joseph's (March 13) and picked up two victories. In 2005, Welch has a team-high five victories and a team-high 30 strikeouts.
Smith has started eight of the Terps' first 10 games behind the plate and hit her first career home run on Feb. 19 vs. Penn State.
Belak has seen extensive action in the outfield and had her first career RBI in the Terps' 3-2 win over Missouri on Feb. 19. The rookie has scored four runs and has stolen a team-high four bases. She hit the game-winning single against Georgia on March 4.
TURTLES IN NAME ONLY
Speedy freshman Jenny Belak has stolen four bases for the Terrapins this year, which ranks first on the team and fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Terps had 25 stolen bases in 2004 and have already tallied seven this season.
SCOUTING MOUNT ST. MARY'S
Mount St. Mary's enters the Maryland Invitational with a 1-6 record after most recently dropping a 1-0 decision at Towson on March 16.
Leading the Mountaineers offensively is Kathleen Housman and Sarah Ramsburg. Housman is batting a team-high .333 with two doubles and two RBI, while Ramsburg has knocked in a team-high three runs and is hitting .263. Mount St. Mary's pitcher Maria Lutz earned the team's lone victory of the year (1-0 over Delaware State) and has struck out a team-high 13 batters.
At the helm of the Mountaineers is Larry Alvis, who is in his first season.
Maryland leads the all-time series, 2-0, with two victories (15-14 and 11-1) in the 1995 season.
SCOUTING BINGHAMTON
The Bearcats are 1-4 on the season with a victory over Liberty and four losses at the East Carolina Tournament.
Jessica Dima is hitting .462 and has an RBI, while Devin Glezen is hitting .333 with an RBI. Bearcat pitcher Katie Hansen (1-2) has a 2.70 ERA and has struck out 15 batters.
Head coach Holly Brown is in her ninth season as the head coach of Binghamton.
Maryland and Binghamton have never met in softball action.
SCOUTING COLUMBIA
Columbia enters the weekend on a five-game win streak with a 9-7 record after most recently defeating George Mason and Cleveland State at the Rebel Games in Kissimmee, Fla.
Shelle Borton is hitting .385 with three doubles and eight RBI, while Taylor Tierney boasts a team-high 10 RBI and has hit a home run. Megan Ivey leads the Lion pitching staff with a 4-3 record and 1.52 ERA.
Head coach Kayla Noonan is in her third season at Columbia.
Maryland won the only previous meeting between the two schools, a 5-4 nine-inning victory on March 27, 2004 at the Terrapin Invitational in College Park.
LAST TIME OUT: MARYLAND 3, ST. JOSEPH'S 0
The Maryland softball team wrapped up its weekend at the Florida State Invitational with a win over St. Joseph's, defeating the Hawks 3-0 at Messer Park. Abbey Welch picked up her fifth win of the year by throwing a one-hitter, while Natalie Grossman hit her first career home run to lead the Terrapins.
Maryland (7-8) scored quickly, taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning after two St. Joe's fielding errors. Nneka Cardoza and Crystal Tweedy each scored a run for the Terps.
Centerfielder Natalie Grossman added an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth, as the junior knocked her first career home run over the left field fence. For Grossman, it was her third RBI of the year and the fourth Terrapin home run of 2005.
Welch had a stellar outing for Maryland, pitching a complete game and recording her second shutout and team-high fifth victory of the year. The junior gave up one hit in the second inning and had three walks, but otherwise pitched a flawless game with eight strikeouts.
Lindsay Klein and Crystal Rizzuto were selected to the FSU Invitational All-Tournament team for their weekend performances.
ACC CHAMPIONSHIPS: OUR HOUSE
The Terrapins' 2005 schedule is highlighted by being selected to host the ACC Softball Tournament from May 12-15. The Terrapin Softball Complex, now in its third full season as the home of the Terps, will provide an outstanding facility for the conference tournament.
TERPS PICKED SIXTH IN PRESEASON POLL
As determined by a preseason vote of the league's head coaches, the Terrapins were picked to finish sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Florida State was tabbed the preseason favorite, followed by Georgia Tech and North Carolina.
CALLAWAY RETURNS TO MARYLAND AS ASSISTANT COACH
Former Terrapin infielder Jillian Callaway, a 2003 University of Maryland graduate, joined the staff of her former team as an assistant coach in August 2004. A standout for the Terrapin softball team from 1999-2003, Callaway finished her career on Maryland's all-time top 10 list for games played (195) and started (189), hits (128) and RBI (63).
Callaway joins former teammate Michelle Burrell on head coach Gina LaMandre's staff. Burrell, a 2001 Maryland graduate, was an outstanding outfielder for the Terps from 1998-2001 and is in her fourth season as an assistant coach.
EMAIL STRAIGHT TO YOU
If you would like the latest Maryland softball news sent directly to you as soon as it breaks, email softball contact Amy Mulligan at mulligan@umd.edu with "Softball Email" as the subject and you will automatically receive every update on the team.
