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News Release

SOFTBALL HOSTS FOURTH ANNUAL UMBC SPRING CLASSIC THIS WEEKEND

3/23/2006

Stevie Shore and the Retrievers host the Fourth annual Spring Classic this weekend.

Baltimore, Md.-The UMBC softball team concludes its tournament schedule this weekend, hosting the Fourth Annual UMBC Spring Classic, Friday, March 24 through Sunday, March 26. Brown, Niagara, Sacred Heart and St. Francis (N.Y.) will compete, with pool play on Friday and Saturday and championship bracket play on Sunday.

Dawg Bites…

The Retrievers are off to their best start in school history at 21-6 and have won 20 of their last 23 games… Head coach Joe French became UMBC’s all-time winningest softball coach with the Retrievers’ 9-0 win over UMES on the second day of the UMBC Dawg Pound Tournament. French now has 160 wins in his UMBC career… The Retrievers have outscored their opponents, 194-93, and out-hit them, 233-184, through 27 games, holding a .322 team batting average and scoring 7.2 runs per game… Sophomore Stevie Shore (New Carlisle, Ohio/Northwestern) is hitting .375 during her current eight-game hit streak.

Speedy Gonzalez

Sophomore Kali Shirk (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) is a perfect 27-for-27 on the base paths and is now 44-for-44 in stolen base attempts to start her career, a UMBC record. She is also tied for fourth on the all-time Retriever steals list, and her 27 steals this year are the sixth-most in a single season in UMBC history… Shirk is hitting .420 (21-for-40) with 22 runs scored during her current 14-game hit streak, which dates back to March 10, and she is two hits away from reaching 100 in her career...

Power Surge

Twelve different Retrievers have hit home runs this season, a new UMBC record. Freshman Courtney O’Hara (Pasadena, Md./Institute of Notre Dame) was the 10th player to homer this season, breaking the old mark of nine set in 2003 with an inside-the-park home run in the second game of a doubleheader against LaSalle.

Junior Reilly Ward (Olney, Md./Sherwood) has hit five home runs this season to give her 21 in her career, third-most ever at UMBC. Ward has also joined the Retriever top-10 list in several other categories, including doubles (T-7th, 29), extra-base hits (5th, 50) and RBI (8th, 88). She also reached the 100-hit milestone with her first hit in the UMBC Kickoff Classic title game against Delaware State on March 5.

Junior Melanie Denischuk (Poway, Calif./Hugh Sutherland (Carstairs, Alberta)/Indian River CC/Auburn) leads the team in most offensive categories, including batting average (.425), RBI (37), hits (34), home runs (8), total bases (63), slugging percentage (.787) and on-base average (.515). Her eight homers tie Ray and Kristie Pickeral for the seventh-most in a single season in UMBC history...

1-2 Punch

Senior Lauren Nicholson (Audubon, N.J./Paul VI) is off to the best start of her career at 9-0, giving her a UMBC-record 47 wins in four years. Senior Amy Sadowl (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro Horsham) is second on the all-time wins list with 41. Nicholson and Sadowl are also 1-2 in UMBC history in innings pitched and games started, and Nicholson tied Crystal Ray for the most complete games in school history with 58 in the Retrievers’ 9-3 victory over George Mason on March 22. Nicholson was named America East Pitcher of the Week on March 20 after going 3-0 on the week.

Nicholson and freshman Krista Kearns (Santa Fe Springs, Calif./Santa Fe) lead the Retrievers with 45 strikeouts. Kearns pitched her first career no-hitter in the UMBC Kickoff Classic championship game, a 10-0 six-inning victory over Delaware State, in which she struck out seven batters and walked only two.

On the Brown Bears:

The Bears are 4-8 on the season and coming off a 2-4 weekend at the Virginia Beach Tournament... Mary Seid leads Brown with a .405 batting average, 17 hits, nine runs scored and 17 stolen bases, while Kelsey Wilson is tops on the team with eight RBI... Michelle Moses has posted a team-best 3.18 ERA, and Heather Garrison leads the Bears with three wins... Brown has been outscored, 74-43, and out-hit, 95-78, in its first 12 games.

On the Niagara Purple Eagles:

The Purple Eagles are 8-6 on the season and coming off a 2-3 weekend at the Delaware State Bash at the Beach, where they were defeated by UMBC, 10-9, on the first day of competition... Niagara is hitting .310 as a team and averaging 4.2 runs per game... Jennifer Yee is the three-time defending MAAC Rookie of the Week. She leads the team in hitting (.550), runs (11), hits (22), slugging percentage (.825) and on-base average (.561), and she is riding a 12-game hit streak... Tory Healy leads the Purple Eagles in doubles (8) and RBI (15)... Tiffany McCrory has posted a team-best 2.22 ERA, 22 strikeouts and a 4-2 record.

On the Sacred Heart Pioneers:

The Pioneers are 4-10 on the season after being swept by Charlotte in a doubleheader on March 18... Amanda Bradley leads the team with a .325 batting average and 13 hits, while Jen Place has posted a team-best six RBI... Place, Megan Spehar and Ashley McDonough have all scored five runs to lead Sacred Heart... Chrissy DeMott is 2-1 with a team-best 1.47 ERA and 24 strikeouts... The Pioneers have been outscored, 45-25, and out-hit, 86-80, in their first 14 games.

On the St. Francis Terriers:

The Terriers are 1-17 on the season and are coming off a 1-4 weekend at the Delaware State Bash at the Beach... Their only win of the season came against the host Hornets on March 18, a 7-5 8-inning victory... Janine Valentin leads the team with a .349 average and 15 hits... Amanda Havdoglous has posted a team-best 6.82 ERA and 16 strikeouts, and she picked up the win against Delaware State... The Terriers have been outscored, 162-19, and out-hit, 210-64, in their first 18 games.

Fourth Annual UMBC Spring Classic

Friday, March 24, 2006 – Pool Play
9:30 a.m. Niagara vs. St. Francis (N.Y.)
11:30 a.m. Niagara vs. Sacred Heart
12:00 p.m. Brown vs. St. Francis (N.Y.) - CCBC-Catonsville
1:30 p.m. UMBC vs. Sacred Heart
3:30 p.m. UMBC vs. St. Francis (N.Y.)

Saturday, March 25, 2006 – Pool Play
8:15 a.m. Niagara vs. Brown
10:10 a.m. Sacred Heart vs. Brown
12:05 p.m. UMBC vs. Niagara
2:00 p.m. UMBC vs. Brown
3:55 p.m. Sacred Heart vs. St. Francis (N.Y.)

Sunday, March 26, 2006 – Bracket Play
9:00 a.m. No. 4 Seed vs. No. 5 Seed
11:00 a.m. No. 2 Seed vs. No. 3 Seed
1:00 p.m. No. 1 Seed vs. Winner of Nos. 4/5 Seed
3:00 p.m. Championship Game