The Terrapin softball team’s recent trouble in midweek doubleheaders hasn’t come from the squad’s starts. Where the Terps have gotten in trouble is everything after that.

Two weeks ago, they followed a blowout of Georgetown spurred by a first-inning explosion with a nail-biting win in the second game. Last night, coach Laura Watten said it seemed the Terps were in for the “exact same thing.”

Only this time, it was a little trickier. After a 5-0 victory behind a three-hit shutout by pitcher Kerry Hickey and a five-run first inning, the Terps needed eight innings to complete their sweep in walk-off style.

“It happens every single doubleheader,” Watten said. “They’re only as good as we make them, and that’s what’s happened.”

Binghamton (17-14) jumped on pitcher Ashley Czechner early in Game 2 last night, taking a 2-1 lead out of the first inning,

“They definitely surprised me,” Czechner said.

The Bearcats’ early lead put pressure on the Terps’ (30-13) bats to manufacture the late-inning clutch hits missing in a late loss to NC State on Sunday.

After getting a run back in the first on an RBI double from Branson, the Terps were largely stymied by Binghamton pitcher Rhoda Masteller until the bottom of the fifth, when outfielder Vangie Galindo doubled in fellow outfielder Sara Acosta to tie the game at 2-2.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, infielder Marisha Branson led off with a double off the wall before scoring on a one-out single by infielder Nikki Maier to give the Terps the 3-2 win.

“It felt great,” Maier said. “Their pitcher had some good spins, but we were on it the whole game. That was my fourth time seeing her, so I was due.”

Czechner was able to settle down after her first inning, allowing only one more hit in her six innings of work before yielding to Kendra Knight, who got the win.

Galindo was productive as usual yesterday, going a combined 5-for-8 with one RBI and two runs scored in the doubleheader, and the Terps got production from the bottom of the order they hadn’t seen recently. Maier went 1-for-5 but recorded two RBI and scored a run, while infielder Kathy McLaughlin was 3-for-4 with one RBI in the day’s games.

McLaughlin also made standout defensive plays at shortstop that helped keep the Terps in the game when trailing. In the sixth inning of the second game, after Binghamton had recorded a leadoff double, McLaughlin fielded a hard-hit grounder and alertly threw to Branson at third to get the lead runner and cut off a Bearcat rally before it could start.

“She’s been playing great defense, and I think she really saved us in that game,” Watten said. “She made some amazing plays. She’s just really been doing well.”

The shortstop, who has started all 43 games for the Terps this year, shares her coach’s mentality when it comes to winning games: There’s the buildup, and then there’s the bottom line.

“I mean, it feels good always to get the win,” McLaughlin said. “I don’t think it should have been in that fashion, but a win’s a win. It’s good.”

dgallen@umdbk.com