April 30, 2008

Belak Breaks Hits Record as Maryland Softball Splits with Towson

TOWSON, Md. - Senior Jenny Belak broke the all-time hits record for Maryland softball with 214, but the Terps dropped the first game of a doubleheader to Towson, 4-3, on Wednesday afternoon. In the second game, the Terps used two, five-run innings to propel them to a 12-3 victory in five innings for head coach Laura Watten's 100th win at Maryland. The Terps moved to 35-19 on the season, while the Tigers moved to 33-24.

Belak led off the top of third inning of the first game with a bunt single, breaking Kelly Shipman's nine-year old record. She added to the hits record with a single in the second game. She stole two bases to extend her record to 57. Belak also holds the career records for triples with 12 and at-bats with 742.

Junior Breanna Shaw doubled to left field in the top of the first of the second game to score Alex Schultz and Sarde Stewart to give the Terps a 2-0 lead. Senior Meghan Booth hit the first home run her career, a three-run shot to left field, to extend the Terps to five.

Florida State Suffers Doubleheader Sweep by No. 6 Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Florida State took an early lead but would fall once again to No. 6 Michigan on Alumni Field with a heartbreaking 8-4 loss, slipping to 36-25 on the season. Despite the loss, the Seminoles were able to score more runs off of Michigan than any team since the Wolverines gave up four to Wisconsin on April 11.

In the second game of the doubleheader it would be the Seminoles who started off the scoring in the top of the first with lead-off hitter Carly Wynn singling to the second baseman, followed by a sacrifice bunt by Whitney Buckmon to move up Wynn one base. With one out, Jessica Gilmore grounded out to second and would advance Wynn to third as sophomore designated player Robin Ahrberg stepped up to bring in the RBI with a single to right field.

• Seminoles fight back from shutout to drop 6-2 decision to No. 6 Michigan

No.20 UMass Blanks Boston College, 9-0

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - The Boston College softball team (29-28, 5-13 ACC) could not find the offensive spark it needed, falling to No. 20 Massachusetts (34-11, 18-0 A10) by a score of 9-0 at Commander Shea Field Wednesday afternoon.

Sophomore pitcher Taylor Peyton, who came in to replace freshman Allison Gage in the first inning, had a sturdy outing for the Eagles. In the no decision, she faced 27 batters, allowed four runs on six hits and struck out six, the second-most strikeouts in a game for her this season.

The Minutewomen broke out with five runs in the top of the first inning. Gage got her 30th start of the season but allowed three earned runs on two hits early on, picking up the loss. Altogether, UMass tallied a five run on three hit inning, taking the 5-0 advantage.