March 23, 2005
MARYLAND (10-9, 0-0 ACC) at RADFORD (20-14, 1-1 BIG SOUTH)
Thursday, March 24, 2005 | 3 p.m. (Doubleheader)
Dedmon Center Field | Radford, Va.
MARYLAND at VIRGINIA TECH (27-6, 0-0 ACC)
Friday, March 25, 2005 | 3 p.m.
Saturday, March 26, 2005 | Noon (Doubleheader)
Tech Softball Park | Blacksburg, Va.
Game Notes
After winning its home tournament with three victories over the weekend, the University of Maryland softball team goes back on the road for contests with Radford and Virginia Tech this week. The Terrapins will face the Highlanders at Dedmon Center Field on Thursday for a 3 p.m. doubleheader before opening ACC play in Blacksburg with a three-game series against the Hokies. Friday's single game will be played at 3 p.m. while Saturday's doubleheader begins at noon. Livestats and audio for the weekend series at Tech Softball Park are available at www.hokiesports.com.
NOTING THE TERRAPINS
Maryland (10-9, 0-0 ACC) won the Maryland Invitational last weekend, posting three victories at the Terrapin Softball Complex to take the tournament crown. The Terps won their first home game of the season for the 10th-consecutive year and got victories over non-conference foes Mount St. Mary's, Binghamton and Columbia.
Lindsay Klein and Crystal Tweedy continue to pace the Terps offensively, as both are hitting above .340 and are ranked among the top 10 hitters in the Atlantic Coast Conference. After opening the year on a nine-game hit streak, Klein has continued to be solid at the plate, notching a team-high nine RBI and 22 hits, while Tweedy continues to find ways to get on base.
Dating back to its inaugural softball season in 1995, Maryland is 5-5 all-time in conference openers.
RECAPPING THE MARYLAND INVITATIONAL
After its scheduled home-opening doubleheader with UMES was postponed due to inclement weather earlier in the season, the Maryland softball team played at the Terrapin Softball Complex for the first time in 2005 this past weekend at the Maryland Invitational.
The Terps started the tourney strong, overpowering Mount St. Mary's, 5-1, and Binghamton, 5-3. Jessica Aditays and Crystal Crews picked up wins on the mound, while Abbey Welch closed out both games and earned her first two saves.
Maryland split its second day of competition, falling to Columbia, 3-2, in pool play but regrouping to defeat the Lions in the championship game, 5-1. It was the Terps' first tournament crown of the year and the third time they advanced to a title game.
Offensively, Maryland was led by junior catcher Nikki Smith, who hit an impressive .538 over four games, Lindsay Klein, who hit .400 and tallied three RBI and Lauren Pollock, who posted five RBI.
TERPS IN THE ACC RANKINGS
Several Terrapins are at or near the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference top 10 lists. Lindsay Klein ranks fourth in the conference with a .349 batting average, while Crystal Tweedy is seventh (.340). Klein also appears in the top 10 for hits (third, 1.16 per game) and total bases (seventh, 1.47 per game).
Keri Lounge is third in the league for doubles, Jenny Belak ranks ninth for stolen bases and Nneka Cardoza is fourth for walks per game.
Terp pitcher Elyse Lucas has the eighth-best ERA in the ACC (1.71) and ranks ninth for strikeouts (6.35 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 .969 fielding percentage, a conference-low 18 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 (5-3) 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, 30 strikeouts and two saves.
Smith has started 16 of the Terps' first 19 games behind the plate and hit her first career home run on Feb. 19 vs. Penn State. In her last four games, Smith hit .538 and had a slugging percentage of .692.
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 six runs and has stolen a team-high five bases. She hit the game-winning single against Georgia on March 4 and posted her first-career multiple-hit game against Mount St. Mary's on March 19.
TURTLES IN NAME ONLY
Speedy freshman Jenny Belak has stolen five bases for the Terrapins this year, which ranks first on the team and ninth in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Terps had 25 stolen bases in 2004 and have already tallied 10 this season.
SCOUTING RADFORD
Radford enters Thursday's doubleheader with a 20-14 record after most recently sweeping a doubleheader against UNC Greensboro (4-1 and 5-2).
Leading the Highlanders offensively is Amanda Walling and Lara Wohlgemuth. Walling is batting a team-high .310 with four doubles and 14 RBI, while Wohlgemuth has knocked in a team-high 17 runs and is hitting .299. Radford pitcher Breanna Felix has a team-best 14-8 record with a 1.76 ERA.
At the helm of the Highlanders is Amy Kvilhaug, who is in her third season.
Maryland leads the all-time series, 3-2, but dropped a contest with the Highlanders earlier this season at Georgia's Red and Black Challenge. In that March 5 meeting, Radford edged the Terps, 3-1.
SCOUTING VIRGINIA TECH
The Hokies are 27-6 on the season after winning the Hokie Fastpitch Club Classic with a 4-3 win over East Tennessee State.
Megan Evans is hitting .396 with nine home runs and 30 RBI, while Caitlin Murphy is hitting .314 with 10 RBI. Hokie pitcher Angela Tincher (13-2) has a 0.77 ERA and has struck out 192 batters.
Head coach Scot Thomas is in his 10th season as the head coach of Virginia Tech.
Maryland has never lost to Virginia Tech, as the Terps have claimed all four meetings of the series. The most recent contest came on March 17, 2000 at the Florida State Invitational. Maryland won that game, 10-2, in six innings.
LAST TIME OUT: MARYLAND 5, COLUMBIA 1
The University of Maryland softball team won the final game of the Maryland Invitational at the Terrapin Softball Complex, defeating Columbia 5-1 for the tournament crown. Terp pitcher Elyse Lucas held the Lions to one run on one hit, while Maryland tallied 11 hits including two each from Crystal Tweedy, Nikki Smith, Keri Lounge and Jenny Belak.
Freshman Jenny Belak led off the Terrapins' first inning with an infield single and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Nneka Cardoza. The next batter, Lindsay Klein, doubled to the gap in right-center field to drive in Belak and put the Terps up 1-0. Maryland's clean-up batter, Keri Lounge, was up next and hit her team-high fifth double of the year to score Klein and put the Terps up 2-0. The Terp hit streak continued when Nikki Smith singled to center field and Lauren Pollock singled up the middle, scoring two more Terrapin runs. Smith finished the Maryland Invitational with a team-high .538 batting average.
In the bottom of the first inning, Columbia shortstop Hilary Parsons doubled and drove in the Lions' lone run of the afternoon.
The Terrapins (10-9) stayed in control for the remainder of the game, as Lucas struck out five batters and allowed just one hit for her second victory of the year. Her record is now 2-2, while Columbia pitcher Megan Ivey went to 5-5 on the year.
Belak got her second hit of the afternoon in the sixth inning, an RBI single that gave the Terps their final lead of 5-1. Belak finished the game 2-for-3 with an RBI, a run scored and a stolen base. Also having multiple-hit outings for Maryland were Lounge, Smith and Tweedy.
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. The Terps are 3-1 on their home field so far this season.
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.
