April 18, 2007

Box Score |  Photo Gallery 

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Amber Jackson came up one stolen base short of the 100th of her career, but that was about the only thing that did not go Maryland's way during a doubleheader sweep of George Washington Wednesday evening. Terrapin aces Meredith Nelles and Stacey Jennings combined to strikeout 17 batters in the two games, and Maryland recorded 21 hits on the day, compared to only five for the Colonials.

Jackson, who swiped two bases in game one, still needs one more to become the 12th player in NCAA history to have 300 hits, 200 runs, and 100 stolen bases for her career. The senior was "a little disappointed" that she fell shy of the record Wednesday, but noted that there are still many games to go.

Record or not, Jackson and the Terps were excited to get a pair of strong wins and bounce back from last weekend's losses to 24th ranked Georgia Tech.

The Terrapins started slowly in game one, scoring one run each in the second and third innings, with Lindsay Klein providing the offense. Klein homered in the third, her fifth of the season, and singled down the left field line in the third to score Jennings.

From the pitcher's circle, Jennings was brilliant, baffling the Colonials' hitters with a variety of pitches. The senior struck out ten batters with zero walks, and improved to 9-9 on the year. The Terrapin bats were too much for George Washington's freshman sensation Amanda Gabriel, who fell to 10-7 with the loss.

Jackson gave the Terps a 3-1 lead when she singled in the fourth to drive in Meghan Booth who was pinch running for Lindsey Ubrun.

The Terps then exploded in the fifth inning, as Jennifer Wellborn and Ubrun each hit two-RBI homers over the left field wall. For Ubrun it was her fourth home run in Maryland's last five games.

Later in that inning, Tierra Booth, pinch running for Brittany Bessho, raced home from third base, as George Washington catcher Elisa Van Kirk threw towards second to catch Devon Williams who was stealing from first. Williams slid into second base safely, and Booth crossed home plate to give the Terps an 8-1 advantage on her first collegiate run.

Maryland was just as effective offensively in the game two nightcap. In the second inning, Bessho singled to score Sarde Stewart, who had doubled to the right center field wall to get on base,

The Terps really got things going in the third inning, scoring four runs on five hits, to put the game out of reach. Wellborn and Keri Lounge both doubled in the inning to score three runs. Lounge's ball made it past the Colonials' left fielder to the left field corner, and Klein and Wellborn both rounded the bases for home plate.

Wellborn, who owns the tenth highest batting average in the ACC, finished with four RBIs, three hits, and two runs on the day.

With Maryland leading 6-0 in the fourth inning, Klein and Stewart both had sacrifice flies to give the Terps an 8-0 lead and end the scoring.

Meredith Nelles (14-7) struck out her sixth and seventh batters of the game to retire the Colonials in the top of the fifth inning, and the game ended by virtue of the eight run rule. Carrie Higdon took the loss for George Washington to fall to 4-3 on the year.

Several Terrapin athletes were in attendance during the game, including basketball's Bambale Osby, who emphatically waved a hand made sign from his seat behind home plate for much of the second game.

The Terps travel to Virginia Tech this weekend to face the ACC-leading Hokies, and defending ACC player and pitcher of the year, Angela Tincher.