Feb. 14, 2007

The Terrapin softball team will look to make a good first impression early in the 2007 season as they travel to sunny Boca Raton, Fla. for the FAU-Dunkin' Donuts Classic. Maryland will be tested immediately, as they take on 2005 NCAA Champion Michigan in an 11 a.m. tilt on Friday.

Head Coach Laura Watten is excited to get the season started against some of the finest competition the country has to offer. "You want to start out with the best, so you can fine tune things and get a good gauge for the rest of the season," she said.

As usual, the Wolverines have gotten off to a strong start this season, with a 4-1 record and a 14th place ranking in this week's NFCA poll. Senior pitcher Lorilyn Wilson has been a major reason for Michigan's success, with 29 strikeouts to her name already this season.

Do not expect the Terps to just roll over, however. "They're former national champions, but they have to play us to," said Coach Watten.

Things don't get much easier for the Terrapins, as they follow up the showdown with Michigan with games against East Carolina (Friday at 1 p.m.), St. John's and Long Island (Saturday at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. respectively). The Pirates of ECU earned a 3-1 record at last week's Carolina Classic, and feature another excellent pitcher in Keli Harrell, a senior who earned All-Conference USA honors.

Maryland will look to counter Wilson and Harrell with former Tennessee ace Stacey Jennings, who will make her Terrapin debut this weekend. The senior transfer owns a 34-21 record as a starter and helped lead her team to a third place finish in the 2005 Women's College World Series.

"ECU has been pretty strong in recent seasons," said Watten, "and Long Island has been to the NCAA tournament [in 2003, 2004, and 2006]. They're all well-coached teams."

The Terps will conclude the weekend with a bracket playoff on Sunday.

This year's Terrapin squad features a mesh of heralded transfers and key returnees from a year ago that has people in College Park talking NCAA tournament. Coach Watten and her players believe they have the talent; now they have a chance to prove it on the field against some of the nation's best athletes.

Technical Difficulties University of Maryland athletics and WMUC radio had made preparations to broadcast live all of the Terps' softball action this weekend from Boca Raton, Fla., but technical problems at the FAU softball press box could not be resolved in time for the broadcast crew to make the trip. WMUC is planning to begin broadcasts of Terp softball with next week's action in the Palm Springs Classic. Games in this weekend's FAU tournament can be followed on Gametracker on fausports.com, or by following this link.