Terrapin Softball, Winners of Four Straight, Welcome Northern Illinois to College Park
3/14/2007 8:00:00 AM | Softball
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March 14, 2007
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland Softball team returns home Thursday to host a single game versus Northern Illinois, before the Terrapin Spring Break Invitational kicks off on Friday morning.
It has been a busy week for Maryland softball. The Terrapins hosted the Maryland Invitational last weekend, and won three of five in the event. Tuesday afternoon the Terps made the trip up I-95 to UMBC, and swept the Retrievers in a doubleheader, 12-3 and 4-1. By the time this weekend's tournament concludes on Sunday, Maryland will have played 13 games in nine days.
Fatigue has not been a problem so far for the Terps. Maryland has won four straight games, and five out of seven. During that stretch, the Terps have outscored their opponents 44-14.
Amber Jackson has continued her spectacular season, but other Terps have stepped up around her. Eight Terps have hit at .300 or better during the team's four game winning streak.
In particular, seniors Lindsay Klein and Keri Lounge have stepped up their game. Klein has six hits and five RBIs, and Lounge has four runs, five hits and seven RBIs. Five different players have hit home runs during that stretch, including pitcher Stacey Jennings.
Jackson meanwhile is approaching several Maryland single season records, and seems destined to make her only season in College Park a memorable one. With 26 RBIs on the year already, she needs only 12 more to catch Beth Radford, who recorded 38 in 1999. Maryland's Lindsay Ubrun had 37 as a freshman a year ago.
Jackson is also on pace to pass Ubrun for the single season home run record, which Ubrun set last year with 11. A third of the way through the season, Jackson, with eight homers, already stands tied for fifth with Radford and Kelly Shipman.
The Terrapin record for runs on the year is 49, and Jackson is also on pace to pass that mark. She has 19 already this season. If teams continue to walk her, look for her name to climb up that list as well. Jackson has been walked 17 times this season, and Maureen Klee set the Terrapin record in 1995 with 42.
Northern Illinois comes to town on a road swing through the Baltimore-Washington Area. The Huskies, who also take on Towson and Georgetown this weekend, have lost seven of their past eight games. Thursday's game will mark the first meeting between the Terps and Huskies.
Northern Illinois is led by sophomore Randi Kreiter, who has five runs, 12 hits, and nine RBIs in nine games so far this season. Ashley Clement has six hits, seven RBIs and two home runs on the year.
Four schools, Connecticut, Akron, Robert Morris Mount Saint Mary's, come to Robert E. Taylor Stadium on Friday to take part in the Terrapin Spring Break Invitational.
Connecticut stands at 10-7 after finishing 2-3 on trip to San Jose last weekend. Maryland holds a 1-1 record all-time against the Huskies, their last meeting a 6-2 Terrapin win in 2001.
Sophomore Jillian Ortega leads the Huskies with 17 hits and 12 RBIs. Senior Holly Calcagno holds a .394 average and has recorded 11 RBIs, four of which came in a 12-11 upset over 22nd ranked California, a team which beat Maryland 11-1. Krista Michalczyk owns three wins on the year from the pitcher's circle, and has struck out 20 batters in five games.
The Akron Zips are 5-8 after dropping four of their six games last weekend at the Winthrop Invitational last weekend in Rock Hill, S.C. The Terrapins are 1-1 all time against the Zips, and have not met since a 6-2 Maryland victory in 1999.
Katrina Moffett currently leads the Zips with a .378 average, 14 hits and six RBIs. Although she has compiled a 2-5 record, Lindsay Bodeker has played well from the pitcher's circle. She has a 2.02 ERA and has stuck out 32 batters on the season.
Robert Morris's Craig Coleman returns as head coach for the 17th season. The Colonials earned a share of the Northeast Conference regular season title a year ago, and have won seven NEC tournament titles.
Robert Morris has had a rough start to the season, but the Colonials' (1-9) accomplishments over the past few seasons show that they are likely better than their record suggests. Coleman and the team will look to get their season back on track in College Park. Robert Morris defeated Maryland 2-0 in 1997, the teams' only meeting.
The Colonials return four all-conference members, including First Team All-NEC members Jill Dorsch, who led the Colonials with a .396 batting average, and Jill Spargo, who recorded 65 hits with a .382 average. Susan Perich currently leads Robert Morris with a .320 average in 2007.
Mount Saint Mary's (3-9) hasn't yet played a game outside the state of Florida. They won three of five at the Blue and Gold Felsburg Memorial Tournament in Miami, Fla., and spent last weekend in Deland, Fla., at Stetson University.
The Mountaineers finished with a 31-25 record a year ago. Maryland has never lost to Mount Saint Mary's, with a 5-0 record all-time. The Terps swept the Mountaineers last season, 2-0 and 8-0.
Amanda Burk, a sophomore from Bristow, Va., leads the Mount with a .303 average.
