May 5, 1997

Maryland Earns No. 1 Seed at ECAC Championships

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The University of Maryland softball team, in only its third year of varsity competition, enters this weekend's ECAC Championship with a 25-21 overall record. The 1997 Atlantic Coast Conference co-champions are making their first postseason appearance. The Terps meet fourth-seeded Fairfield on Saturday at 10 a.m. in Fairfield, Conn. If Maryland should win that contest, it would next play at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The tournament is double-elimination. Joining Maryland in the field are second-seeded Harvard, third-seeded Cornell and fourth-seeded Fairfield.

Sophomore standout Kelly Shipman, a 1997 First Team All-ACC selection and co-MVP of the ACC Tournament, leads the Terps in batting with a .322 batting average. The Huntingtown, Md. native is also as deadly on the mound as she is on the plate. She owns an 18-8 record with a 0.93 ERA. She has recorded 235 strikeouts in 193.2 innings pitched. She is ranked 12th in the country in strikeouts with a 6.0 average per seven innings. She hit the game-winning two-run homerun against Florida State which gave the Terps a share of the conference championship. She also broke an ACC Tournament record with 10 strikeouts against Georgia Tech. Shipman pitched her first career perfect game against Towson State while striking out 12 batters.

Sophomore third baseman Tricia Hunt and freshman designated hitter Cortney Madea, both First Team All-ACC selections, round out the Maryland lineup of hot hitters. Madea is hitting .245 which ranks her third on the team, and has a team-high 16 RBIs. Hunt, also an ACC All-Tournament selection, has scored a team-high 22 runs with 11 RBIs.

The Terps finished the 1996 season with a 33-24 record.

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