Maryland Softball Travels to Palm Springs Classic
2/22/2007 7:00:00 AM | Softball
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Feb. 22, 2007
Maryland heads to Palm Springs, Calif. this weekend for the Palm Springs Invitational, the nation's premier collegiate softball tournament. The Terps will face three schools ranked in the top 20 of the NFCA national poll: UCLA (12th), California (16th), and Texas (10th).
Maryland's six game schedule also includes games against Nevada, Loyola Marymount and UNLV. In all, 26 schools were invited in all for the four day event, including six of the eight 2006 World Series participants.
The Terrapins finished 3-2 in last week's Dunkin' Donuts Classic, but will face stiffer competition in this weekend's opposition. In its three wins, Maryland outscored its opposition 21-3. The Terps had more difficulty with 14th ranked Michigan, and twice fell just short in closely contested games.
This week the Terps will get another chance to prove themselves against the country's elite.
UCLA (7-4) is historically one of the elite programs in softball, and this year's team lives up the program's expectations. The Bruins feature last week's Pac-10 player of the week, Lisa Dodd, who has also won Pac-10 pitcher of the week during her career.
Watten and the other Terps who were with her at Bethune-Cookman in 2005 are familiar with the Texas Longhorns. Watten led tiny Bethune-Cookman to the Super Regionals that year where Texas finally ended their magical run. Assistant Coach Alissa Smith, and transfers Amber Jackson and Sarde Stewart were also on that Wildcat team.
Maryland kicks off the weekend with a 10 a.m. (pacific time) date with Nevada on Friday, followed by a bout with the 10th ranked Longhorns at 3:00 p.m. The Terps' Saturday schedule includes games with No. 12 UCLA (3:00 p.m.) and Loyola Marymount (8:00 p.m.). They wrap up the weekend with back to back games against California (11 a.m.) and UNLV (1:00 p.m.)
Fans can catch the Terps on WMUC all weekend with Bret Lasky and Josh Weisz. See Schedule below (all times Eastern):
Friday
1 p.m. Nevada www.wmucports.com
6 p.m. Texas www.wmucradio.com and 88.1 FM in College Park
Saturday
6 p.m. UCLA www.wmucsports.com
11 p.m. Loyola Marymount www.wmucsports.com
Sunday
2 p.m. Californiawww.wmucradio.com and 88.1 FM in College Park
4 p.m. UNLVwww.wmucradio.com and 88.1 FM in College Park
