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News Release

SOFTBALL OPENS AMERICA EAST PLAY AT HARTFORD THIS WEEKEND

3/31/2006

Kali Shirk and the Retrievers open America East play this weekend.

Baltimore, Md.-The UMBC softball team travels to West Hartford, Conn., this weekend to open America East Conference play with a three-game series against Hartford. The first game of Saturday’s doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., while Sunday’s game time is noon. The Retrievers are 28-8 on the season after sweeping Howard and Brown in doubleheaders this week.

Power Surge

Fourteen 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 seven home runs this season to give her 23 in her career, second-most ever at UMBC. Her two homers against Brown on Thursday moved her past Taryn McDonald into sole possession of second place on UMBC’s all-time list. Ward has also joined the Retriever top-10 lists in several other categories, including doubles (7th, 31), extra-base hits (5th, 54) and RBI (7th, 96). 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 (.444), RBI (50), hits (48), home runs (12), total bases (89) and slugging percentage (.824). Her 12 homers tie Ward and Kristie Pickeral for second-most in a single season at UMBC and leave her just three away from Lauren Hebb’s school record 15. Her 50 RBI also tie for the third-highest single-season total in school history.

Speedy Gonzalez

After stealing a school-record 45 consecutive bases to start her career, sophomore Kali Shirk (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) was caught stealing for the first time in her career on March 24. She is now 32-for-33 on the season, the fifth-highest single-season total in school history, and she ranks fourth all-time with 49 steals. The 45 consecutive stolen bases ranks 10th all-time in NCAA history

1-2 Punch

Senior Lauren Nicholson (Audubon, N.J./Paul VI) is off to the best start of her career at 10-1, giving her a UMBC-record 48 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 is also the all-time record-holder in complete games.

K’s for Kearns

Freshman Krista Kearns (Santa Fe Springs, Calif./Santa Fe) leads the Retrievers with 74 strikeouts. She 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.