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News Release

UMBC Softball Notebook: Former Retriever Lauren Nicholson Pitching Overseas; Shepherd Ranked Fourth Nationally in Doubles

7/10/2007

UMBC's all-time wins leader Lauren Nicholson becomes the third Retriever to play in Europe.

Former UMBC standout Lauren Nicholson is spending the summer pitching for the Therwil Flyers in Basel, Switzerland. Nicholson becomes the third Retriever in as many years to play overseas, as Amy Sadowl pitched in the Netherlands last summer and outfielder Megan Oursler spent the summer of 2005 playing in Sweden.

Nicholson said at first she did not seriously consider any of the recruitment e-mails she received from teams in Spain, France, Germany and Switzerland, but soon realized it was an opportunity she could not pass up. After narrowing her choices to teams in France and Switzerland, she finally decided the Flyers were the best fit.

Nicholson is allowed to pitch one game per week – the second game of a doubleheader – according to the European Softball rules for Americans. She also coaches the pitchers, a job in which she has experience after spending last season as a graduate assistant at Temple University, where she is pursuing her Master’s degree in sport and recreation administration.

But coaching in Switzerland provides an added challenge, as she is the only American on her team. While many people do speak English, including almost everyone on her team, the main language in Basel is German.

Basel is located in northwest Switzerland on the Rhine River and borders both Germany and France.

“The city of Basel is a great place to be,” Nicholson said. “My apartment is about a block away from the Rhine, I’m five minutes from both France and Germany and about an hour away from the Alps. There is not much more I could really ask for.”

Softball is a relatively young sport in Switzerland, and there are only eight teams in the whole country. Players on the Flyers range in age from 14 to 36.

“The competition is not what I’m used to,” Nicholson said. “There is a wide range of age and talent on the team, which has been my biggest challenge so far.”

Another difference in Switzerland is that there are no all-dirt softball fields as are used in the United States. Nicholson says the playing fields are either all grass or part-grass, part-dirt like used in baseball.

The Flyers are currently 12-2 and in first place in their league. The Playoffs begin in August, and the team will play in the European Cup in Athens, Greece, at the end of the season. Nicholson joined the team at the beginning of June and will return home in early October.

Nicholson plans to finish her Master’s in 2008. She will not be able to return to coaching at Temple because of her degree’s internship requirement, but she says coaching remains a possibility as a career choice in the future.

“I did learn a lot this past year about what it takes to run a Division I team, and it’s something I definitely would not rule out down the line,” she said.

Nicholson finished her collegiate career as UMBC’s all-time leader in wins (57), innings pitched (620.2), games started (97), appearances (116) and complete games (68), and she ranks second all-time in strikeouts (387) and fourth in shutouts (11).

Witten Retires, Sadowl Promoted: Assistant coach Dave Witten retired from softball at the end of the 2007 season after 15 years as a collegiate, high school and ASA travel ball coach, including three as UMBC’s first base coach. The Retrievers compiled a record of 104-69 during his tenure.

Amy Sadowl, who served as an undergraduate pitching coach last season, has been promoted to replace Witten in the dugout. Sadowl, who earned her Bachelor’s degree in American studies in May, finished her collegiate pitching career second all-time in UMBC history in wins (43), innings pitched (489), games started (77) and appearances (102); fourth in complete games (43); fifth in strikeouts (212); sixth in winning percentage (.606); and 10th in ERA (2.82). She also posted the second-most wins ever in a season by a Retriever pitcher with 18 as a freshman in 2003.

In her first season as pitching coach, Sadowl guided the Retriever staff to a 2.76 ERA, the lowest it has been since 2003.

Retrievers Ranked Nationally: UMBC junior second baseman Dana Shepherd finished the 2007 season ranked fourth in the county in doubles, as she clubbed 0.38 two-baggers per game. Shepherd set a new school record with 19 doubles last season.

Other Retrievers to rank in the top 50 in the nation in statistical categories include senior catcher Krissy Licursi, who was among the toughest in the country to strike out (26th), as she was rung up just eight times in 150 at-bats; Shepherd in runs per game (39th, 0.92); and freshman Amanda Fefel in home runs per game (45th, 0.26). In addition, senior first baseman Melanie Denischuk ranked 51st in RBI per game (0.88), junior pitcher Ashley Gray ranked 69th in ERA (1.81) and senior shortstop Reilly Ward ranked 75th in walks per game (0.54).

As a team, the Retrievers ranked 14th in the country in doubles per game (1.54), 22nd in scoring (5.42 runs per game), 23rd in home runs per game (1.06) and 26th in slugging percentage (.471). UMBC also finished the season 50th in team batting average (.291) and 53rd in winning percentage (.640).