April 20, 2012

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April 21-22, 2012

NC State

Scouting The Terps
• Maryland enters its weekend series at NC State with a record of 25-17 and 3-6 in the ACC so far this season.

• Most recently, the Terrapins have won their last five straight games after beating Howard twice Wednesday night and sweeping Virginia last weekend.

• Senior Kendra Knight and freshman Shannon Bustillos both earned ACC weekly honors this week for their performances over the weekend. Knight earned her fifth career ACC Pitcher of the Week honor and Bustillos notched her second ACC Player of the Week award. Knight shares her honor with North Carolina's Lori Spingola.

• The Terrapins have five seniors in this year's roster in Vangie Galindo, Kendra Knight, Bree Hanafin, Kathy McLaughlin and Sloane Van Meter.

• Head Coach Laura Watten returns seven starters and 12 letterwinners from last year's NCAA Regionals squad.

• In 2011, senior Vangie Galindo had one of the greatest seasons at the plate in Terrapin softball history. Her season average of .422 and 78 hits last year were both school records. Galindo is batting .338 in her career, which is the best career average in school history. Bree Hanafin's career average of .325 is second-best.

• Galindo's 58 career stolen bases are No. 2 in Maryland history. She needs two to tie Jenny Belak's record.

• Senior Kendra Knight is currently No. 2 in Terp history in career strikeouts with 693. With seven more strikeouts, she will be the second Terrapin to break the 700-K mark.

• Knight thre her second career no-hitter Wednesday night vs. Howard. She held the Lady Bison hitless through the five innings of game one and allowed one hit in the third inning of game two, while racking up 19 strikeouts in 8.0 innings pitched.

Scouting The Wolfpack
• NC State is 21-26 overall and 3-11 in ACC play this season.
• Most recently, the Wolfpack has lost its last four games and dropped a 7-1 decision to Elon Thursday night. Renada Davis is leading the Wolfpack at the plate with her batting average of .352, 45 hits and 22 RBI.
• Maryland owns the series, 13-10, and took two of three in College Park last year.

Who's Hot?
• Senior Vangie Galindo has hit .600 over the last five games with a team-high nine hits and three stolen bases.
• Senior Kendra Knight allowed just one run over 25.1 innings pitched over the last five games. She's allowed nine hits, and opponents have hit just .110 against her. She's racked up 41 strikeouts in those 25.1 innings.
• Freshman Shannon Bustillos is batting .545 in the last five games with six hits and 11 RBI. Sophomore Candice Beards and Kathy McLaughlin also have six hits in the last five games as well.

Play the Best
The Terrapins will play a strong schedule against a number of the nation's top teams.
• The Terps will play seven games against teams in this year's USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches Preseason Top 25.
• The Terps will battle six teams that competed in last year's NCAA championships. They will play 11 games against those teams.

Head Coach Laura Watten
Laura Watten returns for her seventh season at the helm of the up-and-coming Terrapin softballa program. Her current career record is 551-369 (.599) and her record at Maryland is 229-162 (.586). Below is a breakdown of just a few of her career highlights:

• Collegiate Record (15 years): 551-369 (.599)
• Record at Maryland (7 years): 229-162 (.586)
• Led the Terrapins to back-to-back NCAA Regionals appearances for the first time in school history
• Earned first postseason appearance since 1999
• 11 NFCA All-Region honorees
• Coach of 2007 Easton and NFCA All-American
• 11 All-ACC selections, including five first team
• Three All-ACC Tournament Team selections
• Coached 2011 ACC Pitcher of the Year Kerry Hickey
• Three ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District team members
• 17 All-ACC Academic Team members
• Four-time MEAC Coach of the Year (2001, 2002, 2003, 2005)
• 2005 NCAA South Regional Champion (led at-large team Bethune-Cookman to Super Regionals)
• 2005 Super Regional Appearance
• 2005 NFCA Southeast Region Coach of the Year

New Leaders
Watten hired three new assistants prior to the 2012 season - Amber Jackson, Charlotte Morgan, and Kelly Kretschman.
• Jackson was one of the greatest hitters in Maryland softball history. Jackson transferred to Maryland for her senior year (2007) after playing her first three years at Bethune-Cookman College under Watten. In her one year as a Terrapin, she broke school records with 24 home runs, 56 RBI, and 55 walks. Her home run record led the NCAA that year. She was Maryland's second NFCA All-American and was named to the All-ACC First Team. After her career at Maryland, she played three years in the National Pro Fastpitch league for the Washington Glory and USSSA Pride. She 2007 MVP of the NPF and I received All-NPF honors in 2009.
• Morgan, an All-American pitcher at Alabama, plays for the USSSA Pride of the National Pro Fastpitch league. She played for the Crimson Tide from 2007-2010, winning SEC Player of the Year twice (2009, 2010). Morgan was named a first-team ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-American and NFCA second-team All-American. She won the Lowes Senior Class award and was a top 10 finalist for USA Softball's Player of the Year honor. She helped lead the Tide to the Women's College World Series in 2008 and 2009. She was the NPF's No. 1 draft pick in 2010.
• She won a gold medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens and a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She served as an alternate for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Kretschman was a four-time NFCA All-American at Alabama from 1998-2001. As a freshman, she led the NCAA in home runs (25) and slugging percentage. She was named First Team All-SEC three times (1999, 2000, 2001). Kretschman helped lead the Tide to the 2000 Women's College World Series and was named to the All-WCWS Team. She is currently in her seventh season with the NPF.

Terps Picked to Finish No. 5 in ACC
Maryland was picked to finish fifth in the ACC, as voted by the league's head coaches.
• The Terrapins were one vote behind Virginia for fourth-place.
• In 2011, Maryland went 12-7 in ACC play for the most conference wins in a season in school history. The Terps finished third in the league after being picked to finish fifth. They advanced to the ACC Semifinals before falling to North Carolina.

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Media Information
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