Feb. 23, 2007

Nevada Box Score
Texas Box Score

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - As the sun slipped behind the mountains beyond left field, the Terps seemed to lose their grip on their showdown with the tenth ranked Texas Longhorns. The Terrapins gave up two runs in the top of the seventh to erase a 2-0 lead, and the game appeared to be headed for extra innings.

Jenny Belak rallied the Terps, however, with a triple to left field, and then scored on a bizarre play, in which Texas pitcher Meagan Denny threw a wild pitch on an attempted walk of Amber Jackson, giving the Terps an improbable 3-2 victory.

Texas catcher Megan Willis stepped well to the side of Jackson, but Denny threw the ball hard and well over Willis's head.

Belak, who stole 13 bases a year ago, was off the bag and racing towards home plate as soon as the ball was past the pitcher's glove. She slid in safe beneath Denny, as the Maryland bullpen exploded onto the field.

The win gave Maryland two dramatic finishes in one day, as the Terps won their earlier game against Nevada 6-5 in nine innings. Maryland defeated the 2006 WAC and Big 12 Champions in back-to-back games.

Head Coach Laura Watten was thrilled that her Terps performed well on a national stage. "It speaks volumes. We hadn't gotten a lot of respect," she said.

Against Texas, Terrapin pitcher Stacey Jennings was dominating for most of the game, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning. The Longhorns weren't finished yet, however. Right fielder Kacie Gaskin hit a home run past the left field fence, and Crystal Saenz drove in another run with a triple to the right center wall to tie the game at two.

Jennings used a wide variety of pitches to confound the Longhorns.

"We threw her against them because we knew she could keep them off balance. She was was ready," Watten said.

Jennings afterwards said she had no qualms about facing the tenth ranked team in the country. "I was very confident," she said. "I knew that my team was going to to be behind me."

The Terps certainly played as if they had their pitcher's back. They jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, with runs by Jackson and Alex Schultz in the first inning.

Maryland kept constant pressure on the Texas pitchers as well, with 11 hits in the game compared to only two for Texas.

In the earlier game against Nevada, the Terps found themselves trying to overcome an early defecit rather than hold onto one.

The Wolfpack scored one run in the top of both the eight and ninth inning, taking a one-run lead each time.

The Terps responded with clutch hitting of their own both times, with Lindsay Klein finally scoring the winning run in the bottom of the ninth with two outs on the board.

Keri Lounge hit a grounder to Nevada shortstop Sarah Hunt, but firstbaseman Kristin Stith was unable to make the catch, allowing Klein to run home.

The Palm Springs Classic features the international tie-breaker rule, which, at the start of an extra inning, automatically places the last person out from the previous inning on second base.

Alex Schultz started the ninth inning at second base, and advanced to when Amber Jackson grounded out to first base. Klein stepped up with two outs on the board, and hit a single up the middle into center field, driving Schultz home to tie the game.

Jackson was the most valuable player at last week's FAU Dunkin' Donuts Classic, but this time it was her sister Sarde Stewart who was among the day's heros.

Stewart drove in the game tying run in the bottom of the seventh with a deep double to left field. Lindsey Ubrun scored the run.

With Klein on first in the ninth inning and the game tied, Stewart again stepped up to the plate. She drilled another double, moving Klein to third, and setting up the Terps' game-winning score.

Catch all the action of this weekend's tournament on WUMC with Bret Lasky and Josh Weisz. Click here for the radio link.