MARYLAND

at

NORTHWESTERN

April 8-9, 2017 || Sharon J Drysdale Field
Sat. (DH): 1 p.m. || Sun: 1 p.m.

BTN Plus    LIVE STATS  GAME NOTES TWITTER

UPDATE: Friday's game has been cancelled due to travel issues. The teams will now play a double header on Saturday starting at 1 pm (ET)/12 pm (CT). 

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Maryland will be back on the road April 7-9 to play a series against Northwestern (13-19, 1-5 B1G) in Evanston, Illinois. 

This will be the first meeting between the two schools since Maryland joined Big Ten.

Both teams will look to gain standing in the Big Ten, with the Terps still seeking their first conference win while Northwestern managed one B1G win over #22 Wisconsin.

All three games are scheduled to be streamed via BTN Plus.

DON'T RUN ON DILLARD

• Senior Kristina Dillard has been one of the most sound defensive catchers in the Big Ten this season, as she ranks second in the conference in runners caught stealing with 13.
• She is on pace to eclipse her conference-best 16 runners caught stealing last year, and is currently hitting .313 in conference play with two doubles and three RBIs. 

WINNING WEEKEND

• The Terps went 3-2 the weekend of March 18-20, winning two games Saturday at the Maryland Invitational over Binghamton and Buffalo, while shutting out St. John's 3-0 on March 20.
• Senior Madison Martin threw her second one-hitter of the season against the Red Storm, hurling just 68 pitched for the shutout win.

COMEBACK KIDS

• Maryland secured another marque victory in thrilling fashion on March 5, rallying from a 7-1 deficit in the seventh inning to knock off #24 Missouri in extra innings.
• Down 7-1 entering the seventh inning, the Terrapins rallied off six runs in the final frame to tie the game and force extra innings. In extras, Maryland scored one in the eighth and one in the ninth while keeping Missouri off the board in the ninth to seal the victory.
• This was the largest comeback for the Terrapins since March 27, 2015 when Maryland overcame a 10-2 deficit to win 11-10 in the first ever Big Ten game played in College Park.

MARYLAND SENDS SHOCKWAVES THROUGHOUT COLLEGE SOFTBALL

• Maryland's upset over No. 1 Florida on Feb. 18 was one of the top stories in college softball on the weekend, as the Terps defeated the Gators 4-2 in Gainesville.
• The Terps entered the game winless on the season, but erased a two-run deficit in the first inning with four unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth to knock off the previously unbeaten Gators.
• The win was the first for Maryland over a ranked opponent since May 12, 2012 when the team topped Florida State 4-3 in College Park.
• The four earned runs forced off of senior Florida pitcher and All-American Delanie Gourley were the first she had surrendered all season, entering the game 4-0 on the year with a 0.00 ERA in 18 innings.
• The loss was the first for Florida at the Aquafina Invitational (or its home tournament) since 2007.
• Florida's only regular-season non-conference losses the past four seasons came against Missouri (then in the Big 12) and Florida State teams ranked in the top 10 at the time. Both losses were in extra innings. Even then, neither opponent managed to score as many as four runs in the regulation seven innings.

MARTIN STEPS UP

• Senior Madison Martin has been Maryland's go-to option in the circle this season, as she boasts a team-best 3.69 ERA in 106.1 innings while pitching two one-hitters.
• Martin pitched eight innings for the Terps in the team's extra innings win over #24 Missouri on March 5. The Edmond, Okla. native threw a one-hitter complete game to steer the Terps to a 3-0 victory on Feb. 24 against Bowling Green and tossed another against St. John's on March 20. Martin threw just 68 pitches in seven innings to get the win vs. St. John's.
• She was instrumental in Maryland's win over Florida, going 3-for-4 at the plate with a run and RBI while earning the save in the 4-2 victory.
• She came through clutch in the circle for the Terps in the bottom of the 6th inning, getting out of a bases loaded jam with a strikeout and ground out. She then closed out the Gators in the bottom of the 7th to hand the No.1 -ranked hosts their first loss of the year. She hit .583 for the weekend overall at the Aquafina Invitational and tallied 5 strikeouts from the circle.

GOOD TO BE STRANGE

• Senior Juli Strange has been one of Maryland's most efficient players at the plate this season, as she ranks first on the team in runs (20) and batting avg. (.326) and ob% (.441).
• The Valencia, Calif. native moved into the top-10 all-time in runs scored at Maryland in March, as her 115 career runs currently ranks tied for 6th in school history.
• Strange broke out at the plate at Louisiana-Lafayette, going 8-for-16 with three runs and three stolen bases.

SKY IS THE LIMIT 

• Junior Skylynne Ellazar will look to build off her tremendous sophomore season in 2016 for the Terps, where she finished with the third highest season batting average ever (.399) for a Terrapin.
• Ellazar also currently holds the career batting average record at Maryland (min. 80 at-bats) with a .389 mark. She is a full .40 points above the No. 2 player on the list (Vangie Galindo 09-12) and will again be a staple in the lineup for the Terps this season.
• “Sky” led team in batting average (.399), slugging percentage (.574), on base percentage (.458), runs scored (32), hits (59), doubles (12), total bases (85) and assists (103) and was second in RBIs (29) and home runs (4) last year.
• Ellazar was named one of “10 NCAA Softball Juniors to Watch in 2017” by fastpitchnews.com on January 30.

200 ON THE HORIZON FOR WRIGHT

• Head coach Julie Wright is within striking distance of 200 career wins, coming into the 2017 with 191 career victories in her eighth season as a Division I head softball coach.
• After amassing 53 wins during her two-year stint at Akron, she put together 126 victories at Idaho State, which included three consecutive Big Sky Regular Season titles.

next up

• The Terps will return to Maryland Stadium to play a coference home series vs. Michigan April 14-16. 

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