PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore softball team heads to Towson University for two games on Wednesday, March 8. The first game of the twin bill is slated for a 1 p.m. start from Tiger Softball Stadium.
The Hawks (2-7) make the trip across the bay following two tournaments to open their regular season. UMES earned wins against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference foes South Carolina State and Howard in their first nine contests.
The Tigers (6-5) host UMES following a close loss to a fellow MEAC opponent. Coppin State needed an extra frame, but escaped Towson with a 4-3 victory in the eighth inning.
Checking on the Hawks
The Hawks have tested their mettle against high-quality opponents so far in the nonconference, facing three top-100 RPI teams in Virginia, USC Upstate and Longwood among others in their first two tournaments. Virginia holds 43rd in the RPI rankings, with Upstate slotting at 69 and Longwood at 81 as of March 6.
Freshman Jaycee Holt has swung the hottest Hawk bat in the first nine, hitting .407 in her first 27 career at-bats. The Birchwood, Tennessee native shares the team-lead in stolen bases with Katelyn Smitchko, with each swiping three bags.
Speaking of Smitchko, she earned Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week honors on February 27. The first-year from Clarence, Pennsylvania batted .333 including a double and triple, scoring twice and driving in a pair of runs at the Cavalier Clash. She also tossed 12.1 innings in the circle, including two solid frames in the squad's victory over Howard.
Both UMES and the Keystone State were well represented in the MEAC weekly awards last week, as junior Ameenah Ballenger was also honored as the conference's Player of the Week. The Lansdowne, Pennsylvania local hit .333 with a double and her first collegiate home run over five games in Charlottesville, driving in six while also earning her first win of the season in the circle.
Nola Mountain and Kelsie Ekstrom have quietly helped fuel the Hawk offense as well. Mountain has batted .333 with five walks and five runs scored, while Ekstrom holds an even .300 average while slapping a team-high three doubles thus far.
Targeting the Tigers
Much like the Hawks, Towson had their season-opening tournament in the Carolina's scrapped. With Coastal Carolina's Kickin' Chicken Classic off the table, the Tigers opened their season at the Furman Tournament.
Towson dropped both of their games against Binghamton, but claimed wins over Bellarmine, Furman and Sacred Heart in the weekend slate. The Tigers traveled to Charleston Southern the following weekend, dropping two of the three contests.
This past weekend, Towson hosted Bucknell, Bryant and Coppin in the DeMarini Invite. The Tigers knocked off the Bulldogs and Bison before their extra-inning defeat to Coppin.
Briana Ramirez and Mackenzie Lake have buoyed the Towson bats in their first 11 contests. The former has batted a team-best .417 while scoring eight runs, while the latter leads the Tigers in slugging (.618) and OPS (1.077).
Maddie Gardner leads the Tigers with 35.1 innings pitched and her 1.54 ERA ranks first among Towson pitchers with at least seven innings of work this season.
"We are excited to play again after having a weekend off," Hawks coach Karla Ross said. "I believe that we match up well with Towson. The ladies have been preparing and putting in the work this last week, tomorrow is where we put it all together."
The doubleheader can be viewed on FloSports by those with a subscription at http://bit.ly/3yizXdV.
