March 6, 2013

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• If any games are affected by weather, information will be posted on UMTerps.com.

• The Terrapins will team up with the Troops First Foundation this weekend, as members of the foundation will be on hand throughout the tournament and will throw out the first pitch before Maryland's games. The Troops First Foundation is a nonprofit organization that works to provide meaningful assistance to our service members who have suffered devastating injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan. For more on the foundation, log on to http://www.troopsfirstfoundation.org/.

• For live updates throughout the games, log on to https://twitter.com/#!/TerpsSoftball.

Scouting The Terps
• Maryland will welcome Iowa, Ohio State, St. John's, Binghamton and Radford to Robert E. Taylor Stadium this weekend for the Maryland Miken Invitational.

• The Terrapins are coming off of a 34-22 season, in which they earned their third straight NCAA Regionals bid.

• Maryland returns four seniors this year in Sara Acosta, Lexi Carroll, Nikki Maier and Melissa Mancuso.

• The Terrapins have youth and plenty of it this year. They plan to use their talented, young players to their advantage. With seven newcomers, the Terrapins will learn quickly.

• Head Coach Laura Watten returns eight starters and 11 letterwinners from last year's NCAA Regionals squad.

Scouting St. John's
• St. John's is 3-12-1 so far this season. Most recently, the Red Storm went 0-3 at the Easton Classic at #1 Alabama.
• Maryland is 3-1 all-time vs. St. John's. The Terrapins beat the Red Storm 4-3 in 2011, but fell 11-3 last year.

Scouting Radford
• Radford is 2-8 so far this year. The Highlanders went 1-5 last weekend at Georgia's Bulldog Invitational in Athens, Ga.
• Maryland is 3-2 all-time vs. Radford. The two teams haven't met since 2005.

Scouting Iowa
• Iowa is 14-5 on the year and is receiving votes in both polls. The Hawkeyes went 4-0 at Cal State Fullerton's Easton Invitational last weekend.
• Maryland is 1-2 vs. Iowa. Maryland won 11-1 in five innings in 2010 and lost 1-0 in 2011.

Scouting Ohio State
• Ohio State is 9-6 this season. The Buckeyes went 2-3 two weeks ago in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
• Maryland won the only meeting between the two teams, back in 1999.

Scouting Binghamton
• Binghamton is 1-7 so far this season. Head coach Michelle Burrell played at Maryland and graduated in 2001. Assistant coach Meredith Nelles played under head coach Laura Watten and graduated in 2009.
• Maryland is 3-0 all-time vs. the Bearcats. The Terps took a doubleheader in 2011.

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 the preseason USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches Top 25.
• The Terps will battle 16 teams that competed in last year's NCAA championships. So far, they are 3-8 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 564-385 (.594) and her record at Maryland is 242-178 (.576). Below is a breakdown of just a few of her career highlights:

• Collegiate Record (16 years): 564-385 (.594)
• Record at Maryland (8 years): 242-176 (.576)
• Led the Terrapins to three straight NCAA Regionals appearances for the first time in school history
• Earned first postseason appearance since 1999
• 14 NFCA All-Region honorees
• Coach of 2007 Easton and NFCA All-American
• 15 All-ACC selections, including seven 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

Watten Adds Two to Staff
Watten hired Terrapin alum Jillian Callaway and Shannon Riley this summer.
• Callaway was an assistant coach for the Terrapins from 2004-06 after graduating. As a player from 1999-03, she was a standout infielder and finished her career on Maryland's all-time top-10 list for games played (195) and started (189), hits (128), and RBI (63). She owns and operates 5 Star Athletics, a program she founded to promote softball and instruct the top young players in the area. She has worked with current Maryland players Kaitlyn and Lindsey Schmeiser and Bridget Hawvermale through her program.
• Riley, the director of operations, has worked with Callaway as the director of operations for 5 Star Athletics, managing business operations, organizing camps and clinics, and working with local programs and universities to promote softball. Riley played second base and was a slapper on the Mount St. Mary's softball team.

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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 2013 on your computer with GameTracker. Links for all games that will be available can be found at www.umterps.com.