Maryland Hosts NC State In ACC Softball Action

April 1, 2005

MARYLAND (16-10, 2-1 ACC) vs. NC STATE (31-17, 2-3 ACC)
Sunday, April 3, 2005 | Noon (Doubleheader)
Terrapin Softball Complex (1,200) | College Park, Md.
Game Notes

The Maryland softball team hosts NC State this weekend for an Atlantic Coast Conference series at the Terrapin Softball Complex. Due to weather conditions, the teams will play a noon doubleheader on Sunday. Maryland is riding a six-game win streak and is looking to improve on its best conference start since the 2000 season. Gametracker is available for both games at www.umterps.com.

NOTING THE TERRAPINS

Maryland (16-10, 2-1 ACC) swept games at Villanova and against UMES this week, earning 5-0 and 4-3 wins against the Wildcats and dominating the Hawks in a pair of 9-0 victories. The Terps are on a six-game win streak and off to a 2-1 start in Atlantic Coast Conference action, their best since the 2000 season.

Lindsay Klein and Crystal Tweedy have continued their offensive dominance, as both are hitting above .320 and are ranked among the top 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, as she leads or is tied for the team lead in batting average (.353), hits (30), doubles (6), home runs (2) and RBIs (18). Tweedy, meanwhile, continues to find ways to get on base and is hitting .324.

Keri Lounge has also come on strong for the Terps as of late, as she has hit two home runs in her last five games and is on a five-game hit streak. The sophomore second baseman's batting average has climbed to .282 and she has hit five doubles on the year.

The depth of the Terrapin pitching staff continues to show, as all four hurlers have at least two victories. Elyse Lucas and Crystal Crews both threw five-inning shutouts against UMES, and Lucas maintains a team-low 1.20 ERA.

The week of the March 25-26 series with Virginia Tech, the Hokies had received votes in the March 14 ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll, making them Maryland's sixth opponent that was either ranked or receiving votes. Of Maryland's 10 losses, seven have come at the hands of teams that have appeared or received votes in one of the polls, while the Terps have earned three victories over such teams.

With two victories over Maryland-Eastern Shore, the Terps improved to 5-1 at home this season.

RECAPPING THE VILLANOVA AND UMES DOUBLEHEADERS

The Terps followed up a 2-1 ACC start at Virginia Tech with four non-conference victories this week. Maryland traveled to Villanova, Pa., for two games with the Wildcats before returning home for contests with UMES on Thursday.

Elyse Lucas pitched a complete-game shutout in game one vs. Villanova, limiting the Wildcat offense to four hits. Maryland scored all five of its runs in the second inning, led by three RBI by Jenny Belak, and Maryland held on for the 5-0 victory.

In game two at Villanova Softball Park, Keri Lounge hit a game-winning two-run home run to center field to lift the Terrapins to a 4-3 win. Abbey Welch relieved Terp starter Jessica Aditays in the circle and pitched three stellar innings to get the win and improve to 6-4 on the year.

Against UMES, the Terps overpowered the Hawks and tallied 17 hits and 18 runs over two games to earn a pair of 9-0 decisions.

Through its last four games, Maryland has been led by Keri Lounge with a .500 batting average, one home run and five RBIs.

HOME RUN CLUB

Seven different Terrapins have hit home runs in 2005, already eclipsing last year's total of different players. Seniors Nneka Cardoza, Lauren Pollock and Crystal Rizzuto, juniors Natalie Grossman and Nikki Smith and sophomores Lindsay Klein and Keri Lounge have all homered so far this season. Klein and Lounge are tied for the team lead with two home runs apiece.

TERPS IN THE ACC RANKINGS

Several Terrapins are at or near the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference top 10 lists. As of March 29 statistics, Lindsay Klein ranks third in the conference for batting average and also appears in the top 10 for hits, RBIs, total bases and doubles.

Keri Lounge is ranked for doubles, Jenny Belak ranks among the top 10 for stolen bases and Nneka Cardoza is listed for walks 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 .970 fielding percentage, a conference-low 23 errors and four 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 (6-4) 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. Most recently, Welch held Villanova (March 30) scoreless in her three innings of relief work to pick up the win. In 2005, Welch has a team-high six victories, 43 strikeouts and two saves.

Smith has started 21 of the Terps' first 26 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 10 runs and has stolen a team-high six 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. In her ACC debut, Belak tallied three RBI and a stolen base in the three-game series at Virginia Tech. Most recently, Belak notched a career-high three RBI in the Terps' 5-0 win over Villanova.

TURTLES IN NAME ONLY

Speedy freshman Jenny Belak has stolen six bases for the Terrapins this year, which ranks first on the team and sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Terps had 25 stolen bases in 2004 and have already tallied 14 this season.

TERPS BY THE NUMBERS
6
The Terps have faced six opponents in 2005 that have either been ranked or receiving votes in the top 25 polls

3
Against those opponents, Maryland has earned three victories

18
Lindsay Klein has batted in a team-high 18 runs

7
Seven different Terrapins have hit home runs in 2005

326
Career coaching victories by Terps' head coach Gina LaMandre

SCOUTING NC STATE

NC State enters the weekend series with a 31-17 (2-3 ACC) record after most recently picking up two victories over East Carolina, 1-0 and 2-1.

Leading the Wolfpack offensively is Heather Gelbard, Jennifer Chamberlin and Abbie Sims. Gelbard is batting a team-high .314 with 11 doubles and 22 RBI, Chamberlin has a .290 batting average, eight home runs and 30 RBI, while Sims has knocked in 20 runs. Sims, a pitcher, also leads the Wolfpack in the circle, as she has a team-best record of 13-7 and 0.93 ERA.

At the helm of NC State is Lisa Navas, in her second season.

Maryland leads the all-time series, 2-1, as the teams split the doubleheader last year -- NC State's inaugural softball season. In the most recent meeting, at last year's ACC Tournament in Tallahassee, Fla., the Terps earned a 6-0 victory.

LAST TIME OUT: MARYLAND 9, UMES 0

The University of Maryland softball team used a balanced attack and strong pitching to earn two 9-0 victories over Maryland-Eastern Shore Thursday afternoon at the Terrapin Softball Complex. Crystal Crews and Elyse Lucas both threw five-inning shutouts, and Lindsay Klein hit her second home run of the year to lead the Terrapins to their sixth-straight win.

Elyse Lucas (4-2) started in the circle for the Terrapins in game two, her seventh start of the season. Marlee Johnson led off for Maryand-Eastern Shore with an infield single in the first inning, but Lucas and the Maryland defense did not allow the baserunner to score.

The Terps again got off to a strong start in their half of the first inning, getting two baserunners on back-to-back bunt singles by Crystal Tweedy and Nneka Cardoza. The third batter of the inning, Lindsay Klein, hit her second home run of the year to left field to clear the bases and give Maryland a 3-0 lead. After three consecutive walks by Crystal Rizzuto, Lauren Pollock and Rachel Greyson, the bases were loaded for Natalie Grossman, who knocked a single to third base and scored Rizzuto.

Lucas struck out the side in both the second and third innings en route to a career-high 12 strikeouts. The sophomore notched her fourth win of the year and allowed only two hits. The Maryland offense, meanwhile, added three runs on doubles by Rizzuto and Pollock and an RBI single by Lounge to take a 8-0 lead.

Abbey Welch led off the fourth inning with a double to left field -- her first hit of the year. Freshman Medley McGuire, who had entered the game earlier at left field, stepped up next and knocked the first hit of her career through the left side to score Welch and give the Terps their final lead of 9-0.

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 5-1 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.

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