Feb. 16, 2007
Michigan Box Score
East Carolina Box Score
BOCA RATON, Fla. -- In her first day as a Terrapin, senior transfer Amber Jackson made team history, notching a record seven RBIs in Maryland's 9-1 victory over East Carolina University in the second game of the FAU/Dunkin' Donuts Classic softball tournament hosted by Florida Atlantic University.
Jackson hit a grand slam in the second inning to put the Terps up 5-1, and hit another home run to drive in three runs in the sixth inning and end the game by eight-run rule.
Maryland dropped its opening game of the year, 6-1, to 14th-ranked Michigan, but quickly turned things around against the Pirates of ECU.
"We were able to relax a little bit from the first to the second game," said Coach Laura Watten. "In the first game of the season everything is new, and we were a little tight."
Despite the lopsided result, Maryland actually played the Wolverines of Michigan closely most of the game. In the top of the sixth inning, with Michigan leading 1-0, Whitney Reigel homered to left field, scoring the first Terrapin run of the year.
The Wolverines scored five runs in the sixth inning to put the season-opening game out of reach.
Stacey Jennings (0-1) took the loss for Maryland, while freshman Nikki Nemitz earned the win for Michigan. Riegel's home run was the lone Terrapin hit.
Whatever opening-game jitters the Terrapins had, they were gone by the time they took the field for their second game of the day against East Carolina. The Terps put together a complete game on both sides of the ball, and pounded the Pirates for nine runs.
"I really feel like our pitchers did well. Meredith [Nelles] was impressive, and Stacey [Jennings] threw well," said Coach Watten. "We played very solid defense the second game."
Nelles allowed only five hits and one run over 5.2 innings to earn the victory.
Maryland was potent offensively as well, with 10 hits total by eight different players. Maryland got an RBI single in the first inning by Lindsay Klein before breaking a 1-1 tie with five runs in the second.
Jennifer Wellborn started the Maryland second with a double, then scored on a single by Brittany Bessho. After Maryland loaded the bases one out later, Jackson ripped a grand slam to right-center to highlight the rally.
In the sixth inning, with the score still 6-1 in favor of the Terps, Jackson again homered to right-center field, ending the game by virtue of the eight-run rule.
"One of the areas she's been working on is the metal part of the game, and part of that is clutch hitting," Watten said of Jackson. Her seven RBIs were a school record, and she tied the Maryland record with two home runs in one game.
Maryland continues play in the tournament on Saturday when it faces St. John's at 9 a.m. and Long Island at 11 a.m.
