May 11, 2005
MARYLAND (26-19, 5-9 ACC) hosts the ACC TOURNAMENT
May 12-15, 2005 | Terrapin Softball Complex (1,200)
First Round Matchups:
No. 4 NC State vs. No. 5 North Carolina | 11:00 a.m.
No. 2 Florida State vs. No. 7 Virginia Tech | 1:30 p.m.
No. 3 Virginia vs. NO. 6 TERRAPINS | 5:00 p.m.
No. 1 Georgia Tech vs. No. 4/No. 5 Winner | 7:30 p.m.
Game Notes
Tournament Central
The sixth-seeded University of Maryland softball team will face No. 3 seed Virginia at 5 p.m on Thursday in the opening round of the 2005 ACC Softball Tournament, being held at the Terrapin Softball Complex. The Terrapins have won three-straight games and are 13-6 at home this year, while the Cavaliers have won six of their last seven games. In the regular-season series, Virginia took two out of three games from Maryland at The Park in Charlottesville, Va. The ACC Tournament kicks off with No. 4 seed NC State vs. No. 5 seed North Carolina at 11 a.m., in the first-ever ACC Tournament game in College Park.
TERRAPINS AT THE ACC TOURNAMENT
Since its inaugural softball season in 1995, Maryland has compiled a 13-19 record in ACC Tournament games. The Terps split the tournament title with Florida State in 1997, the only year Maryland has advanced to the championship game.
This will be the second-straight year Maryland enters the championship as a No. 6 seed, as the Terps went 2-2 at last year's tourney in Tallahassee, Fla. Maryland has been the No. 1 seed once (1999), the No. 2 seed once (2000), the No. 3 seed three times (1997, 1998, 2002) and the No. 5 seed four times (1995, 1996, 2001 and 2003).
FAMILIAR FOE
Of the six other ACC softball teams, Maryland has faced Virginia the most times at the conference tournament. With 10 meetings over 10 years, Virginia leads the tournament series, 6-4, but Maryland won last year's first-round matchup.
This will be the third-straight year that Maryland and Virginia meet in the tournament's first round. The Cavaliers prevailed, 4-0, in 2003 but the Terps got revenge in 2004 with a 5-3 opening-round victory.
Virginia leads the all-time series, 23-8, and won two out of three games during the 2005 regular season in a series played at The Park in Charlottesville.
Here is a breakdown of the Terrapins' record against ACC teams:
Team '05 Record All-Time All-Time Tournament
Georgia Tech 1-1 16-16 5-2
Florida State 1-2 3-27-1 0-7
Virginia 1-2 23-8 4-6
NC State 0-0 2-1 1-0
North Carolina 0-3 10-23 3-4
Virginia Tech 2-1 6-1 0-0
NO PLACE BETTER THAN THE TSC
The University of Maryland completed the $3.0 million softball complex in the spring of 2002. Located adjacent to Maryland's state-of-the-art Comcast Center on the north side of campus, the Terrapin Softball Complex has numerous amenities and will provide an outstanding facility for the ACC Tournament.
In 2005, the Terrapins are 13-6 on their home field. In games played at the TSC dating back to the park's opening game on April 10, 2002, Maryland has a 45-16 overall record.
This year, nine Maryland starters (Klein, Cardoza, Tweedy, Smith, Lounge, Grossman, Rizzuto, Belak and Pollock) are all hitting above their season averages. Klein has hit four of her five home runs within the friendly confines of the complex, and the Terps, as a team, are hitting .291 (up from their season average of .241) at home.
DID YOU KNOW? -- The first-ever game played at the Terrapin Softball Complex was a no-hitter. Terp pitcher Amanda Bettker fanned seven Towson batters en route to her first complete game no-hitter. Current Terps Lauren Pollock, Crystal Tweedy, Nneka Cardoza and Jessica Aditays, then freshmen, all saw action for the Terrapins, while current assistant coach Jillian Callaway (Class of 2003), started at third base.
NOTING THE TERRAPINS
Maryland (26-19, 5-9 ACC) got two Senior Day victories over George Mason, 3-0 & 7-0, to wrap up its regular season. The Terps finished on a three-game win streak and the most conference wins since 1999.
Lindsay Klein earned ACC Player of the Week honors for her week's performance. The sophomore first baseman batted .556 (5-for-9) at the plate tallying five RBIs and five runs scored over four games (two vs. George Mason and two vs. Delaware). She registered a 1.333 slugging percentage collecting two doubles, a triple and a home run while drawing three walks during those four games. She hit for the cycle against the Fightin' Blue Hens, and her towering blast to center field was her team-high fifth of the year. Against George Mason, the Orange, Calif., native finished the weekend with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. It was the first ACC Player of the Week nod for Klein, and the first for the Terrapins this season.
Klein continues to lead the Terps in nearly offensive category, as she has 31 runs batted in, five home runs and 11 doubles. She boasts 18 extra-base hits on the year.
Keri Lounge has also been a standout on offense, as she has multiple home runs (4) and is tied for the team lead with 31 RBI.
As a duo, Klein and Lounge have accounted for 62 of the team's 140 RBI (44 percent) and nine of Maryland's 15 home runs. Batting in the heart of the Terrapin lineup, the pair has been clutch during scoring opportunities, as Klein is hitting .408 and Lounge is batting .338 with runners on base.
Nneka Cardoza, the Terps' senior shortstop, has been Maryland's hottest hitter in its last nine games. Cardoza takes a nine-game hit streak into the tournament, and is hitting .414 (12-for-29) in those games.
Also contributing to the Terps' run production is Lauren Pollock, Jenny Belak and Nikki Smith, who have all reached double digits for RBI. Pollock, despite having the second fewest at-bats of the Terrapin starters (92), is second on the team with 14 RBI, while Belak and Smith have each batted in 12 runs.
The depth of the Terrapin pitching staff has been an impressive characteristic of Maryland softball in 2005. All four hurlers maintain ERAs that are under 2.000, with Elyse Lucas leading the way with a 1.41 mark. Jessica Aditays leads the team with 98 strikeouts and nine wins, while Crystal Crews ranks second in ACC appearances with a 1.35 ERA. Abbey Welch, meanwhile, has earned seven victories - including wins over ranked teams Missouri and Georgia - and has a team-leading three saves.
HOME RUN CLUB
Seven different Terrapins have hit home runs in 2005, 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 leads the team with five home runs.
TERPS IN THE ACC RANKINGS
Several Terrapins are at or near the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference top 10 lists. Lindsay Klein appears in the top 10 for batting average, hits, doubles, triples, runs batted in and slugging percentage.
Pitcher Elyse Lucas has the fourth-best ERA in the ACC and averages over seven strikeouts per game - good for seventh place in the league. Jessica Aditays is averaging 7.05 K's per game, which ranks eighth in the ACC. Crystal Crews, meanwhile, has the 10th-best ERA in the conference and second-best in conference games only.
THREE IS A MAGIC NUMBER
Three seems to be the decisive digit for the Terrapin offense. So far in 2005, the Terps have compiled a 22-0 record when they score at least three runs. All 19 of Maryland's losses have come in games that it has scored two runs or less.
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 (7-4) 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. Recently, Welch shut out Towson (April 27) and struck out eight batters to pick up the win. In 2005, Welch has seven victories, 55 strikeouts and three saves.
Also excelling in the pitcher's circle is Crews (5-7). The junior fireballer returned from an autumn knee injury and has pitched extremely well in her 13 starts.
Smith has started 39 of the Terps' 45 games behind the plate and hit her first career home run on Feb. 19 vs. Penn State. The junior is hitting .260 on the year with seven doubles and 12 RBI.
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 18 runs and has stolen seven 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. She notched a career-high three RBI in the Terps' 5-0 win over Villanova and hit her first career triple on April 6 vs. Delaware State. Recently, the right fielder tied a career-best with a 3-for-4 game against Towson (April 27), stealing her seventh base and notching an RBI.
Booth and Reigel, meanwhile, have been the Terps' most effective pinch runners and have combined to score 15 runs.
TERPS BY THE NUMBERS
336
Career coaching victories by Terps' head coach Gina LaMandre
31
Lindsay Klein and Keri Lounge have each batted in a team-high 31 runs
13
ACC Tournament victories by Maryland since 1995
7
Seven different Terrapins have hit home runs in 2005
8
The Terps have faced eight opponents in 2005 that have either been ranked or receiving votes in the top 25 polls
5
Against those opponents, Maryland has earned five victories
SCOUTING VIRGINIA
Virginia enters the ACC Tournament as the No. 3 seed with a 29-30 record, 9-8 in the conference. In its last regular-season series, the Cavaliers took two out of three games from Virginia Tech (4-1 & 9-1) and dropped the series finale, 6-5.
Leading Virginia offensively is ACC Player of the Year Sara Larquier and Elea Crockett. Larquier has batted in 53 runs and hit eight home runs, while Crockett leads the team with a .364 batting average.
In the pitcher's circle, Virginia is led by Erin Horn and Coty Tolar. Horn maintains a team-low 2.38 ERA and has struck out 183 batters, while Tolar has won 12 games and fanned 107.
Virginia head coach Cheryl Sprangel is in her eighth season at Virginia.
In ACC Tournament games, Virginia is 24-25 with a title in 1994.
LAST TIME OUT: MARYLAND 7, GEORGE MASON
In its regular season finale, the Maryland softball team shut out George Mason, 3-0 and 7-0, Saturday at the Terrapin Softball Complex. Leading the Terps to the Senior Day victories was Nikki Smith, who hit her second home run of the year and tallied four RBI on the day.
The Terrapin offense found its rhythm in the second game, when Maryland built a quick lead in the first inning. After back-to-back bunt singles by Nneka Cardoza and Crystal Tweedy, Lindsay Klein doubled down the left field line to score a run. Keri Lounge followed Klein's double with one of her own, scoring another run and giving Maryland a 2-0 lead. Later in the inning, Nikki Smith tallied her second and third RBIs of the day with a double to left field.
Leading 4-0 in the third inning, Smith again came up with an RBI hit, this time with the bases loaded. Natalie Grossman and Jenny Belak also delivered RBI singles later in the inning for three more Maryland runs. For Smith, the three RBIs in game two was a new career-high.
Elyse Lucas, Crystal Crews and Abbey Welch all saw time in the pitcher's circle for Maryland (26-19) in game two, and Lucas got the win to improve to 5-4 on the year.
The doubleheader marked the last regular season home game for the five Terrapin seniors. Jessica Aditays, Nneka Cardoza, Lauren Pollock, Crystal Rizzuto and Crystal Tweedy were honored before the game.
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.