April 5, 2012

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April 7-8, 2012

Georgia Tech

Scouting The Terps
• Maryland enters its three-game series at Georgia Tech with a record of 20-14 overall this season.

• Most recently, the Terrapins pulled out two wins over George Mason Wednesday night in College Park.

• 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. Her current career batting average of .330 is second-best in school history, but only to Bree Hanafin's .341 career average.

• Senior Kendra Knight is currently No. 3 on Maryland's all-time strikeout list with 640 in her career. Kerry Hickey, last year's ACC Pitcher of the Year, is No. 2 with 663. Kelly Shipman, who graduated in 1999, had 1,037.

Scouting The Yellow Jackets
Tech is 24-16 overall and 6-3 in ACC play this season. The Jackets have won their last five straight and most recently beat Kennesaw State, 6-3, on Wednesday.
• Kelsi Weseman was named ACC Player of the Week on Tuesday. She hit .625 last weekend and hit two home runs with four RBI.
• Georgia Tech owns the all-time series, 16-33 and has won the last 17 straight meetings, dating back to 2006. Five of the six meetings in the last two years have been by two runs or less.

Who's Hot?
• Senior Kathy McLaughlin is hitting .400 in the last five games with six hits, a double, an RBI, a stolen base and three walks.
• Junior Nikki Maier is batting .375 with six hits and three RBI.
• Senior Vangie Galindo's .333 average over the last five games is one of the team's best. She has five hits and two stolen bases.

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 546-366 (.599) and her record at Maryland is 224-159 (.585). Below is a breakdown of just a few of her career highlights:

• Collegiate Record (15 years): 546-366 (.599)
• Record at Maryland (7 years): 224-159 (.584)
• 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
• Email Straight To You: If you would like the latest Maryland softball news emailed directly to you as soon as it breaks, email softball contact Rose DiPaula with "Softball E-Mail" as the subject and you will receive every update.

• Terps on the Web: For up-to-date game stories, statistics, schedules and results, and other Maryland athletic department information, please log-on to www.umterps.com on the Internet.

• GameTracker: Follow Terps games live in 2012 on your computer with GameTracker. Links for all games that will be available can be found at www.umterps.com.