North Carolina State University Athletics
Softball To End Regular Season with Big Series at Maryland
4/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
RALEIGH, N.C. - No. 25 NC State will wrap up its regular season this weekend, Saturday, April 28 through Sunday, April 29, with a three-game league finale against Maryland in College Park, Md. The Pack and the Terrapins will play two games on Saturday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., before wrapping things up at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Live stats will be available for all games on GoPack.com.
State enters the weekend at 39-16 (13-5 ACC), while Maryland holds a 29-19 (5-9 ACC) slate.
The Pack stands as the No. 2 squad in the conference, while the Terrapins hold steady at No. 6. If State takes at least two games from Maryland, the Wolfpack can finish no worse than second place in the regular season standings. If the Pack were to win one more game than league-leading Virginia Tech this weekend, it would jump the Hokies and clinch first place.
The Terrapins have won five of its last seven games. Amber Jackson leads the way with .397 batting clip, posting 50 hits, 19 home runs, 49 RBIs and 48 runs scored. Jackson, arguably the most prolific hitter in the league, leads the ACC in homers, stolen bases (32), walks (47), total bases (119), on-base percentage (.573) and slugging percentage (.944)
In all the Terps have four players batting over .300, while ranking third amongst all ACC clubs in overall hitting.
Abbey Welch leads the Maryland rotation with a 3.12 ERA. Meredith Nelles captains the squad with a 16-8 record, while Stacey Jennings posts a 9-10 slate.
State trails the all-time series between the two programs, 3-4. The Pack won the first-ever meeting between the two programs in 2004, but dropped three-straight afterwards. Last season the Wolfpack won two-of-three in the regular season series, losing the second contest in a nine inning affair.
Following this weekends bout, NC State will take more than a week off as exams take place on campus. The Pack will return to action at the ACC Championships in Tallahassee, Fla., Thursday, May 10 through Sunday, May 13.
