Maryland Knocks Softball Out of Tournament, 3-2

Thursday, May 10

Tallahassee, Fla.

8:00 PM

NC State

41-19

Maryland

33-25

NC State

Maryland

5/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Sixth-seeded Maryland removed second-seeded NC State from the 2007 ACC Championships with a 3-2 decision in the Pack’s second of two games on Thursday, May 10. Meredith Nelles (19-14) collected the win and Abbey Welch picked up her second save, while Shaina Ervin (13-11) took the loss. The decision puts State at 41-19 on the season, while the Terps move to 33-25.

Maryland forged an early lead in the bottom of the second. Lindsay Klein walked to start the inning, and then moved to second on a Jennifer Wellborn sac-bunt. Brittany Bessho followed with a bloop single into shallow right, pushing Klein to third. Sarde Stewart then sent a sac-fly to the warning track in left, scoring Klein and putting the Terps up 1-0.

State loaded the bases with one out in the top of the fifth and failed to score. Shanna Smith walked, Miranda Ervin sliced a single into center, and Megan Dalthorp took a free pass to put runners at every bag. At that point, Maryland removed Nelles from the circle and handed the ball to Welch. Smith was then forced out at the plate on a Kristine Bechtholdt fielder’s choice to short, and Heather Gelbard went down looking, sending the Pack back into the field empty handed.

The Terps added two more runs to its lead in the bottom of the fifth when Amber Jackson crushed her 24th home run of the season over the wall in right field, tying the ACC single season record for long balls. Georgia Tech’s Whitney Haller set the benchmark a season ago.

The Wolfpack loaded the bases again and got nothing to show for it in the top of the sixth. Blair Harkey got things started with a double into the gap in left-center. Following a Jen Chamberlin groundout to short, Abbie Sims walked and Beth Poore took her place at first base. Allison Presnell then beat out an infield base hit to second, juicing the bases. But Smith fouled out to first and Miranda Ervin sent a grounder to short, where Jackson snatched the ball up and tagged second to force out Presnell and end the inning.

State went down throwing punches, however, scoring two runs in the top of the seventh with its back against the wall. Bechtholdt crushed a one-out double to the left field warning track, and Gelbard followed with a walk. Claudia Cooper then grabbed a pinch-hit single, but Bechtholdt was forced out at third. Chamberlin then lined a two RBI double to left-center, bringing the Pack within one run of trying the ball game. But Sims grounded out to third, and the Pack’s late rally fell just short.

NC State will now await word from the NCAA selection committee with regard to tournament selection. The 2007 NCAA Tournament field will be announced this coming Sunday, May 13.