The Terrapins softball team entered the seventh inning trailing Cal Poly 4-0 in the final game of the Cathedral City Classic on Saturday night. The Terps had one final chance to string together a couple of runs and leave Palm Springs, Calif., with a win.
Instead, the Terps went down in order, giving Cal Poly pitcher Sierra Hyland her first no-hitter in the fifth start of her freshman year.
The loss dropped the Terps to 1-14 this season for their worst start in program history, which dates back to 1995. The only years the Terps had failed to win more than five of their first 15 games were in 1995, when the Terps were 5-10, and last season, when they started 4-11. Neither team made the NCAA tournament, despite the 2013 team winning 31 games and finishing third in the ACC.
“We’re going to be fine,” coach Laura Watten said. “We just have to stay together as a team and as a unit and continue to build and grow and get strong.”
As a team, the Terps struggled offensively again this weekend. After scoring four runs in their four losses at the Florida Atlantic Tournament from Feb. 14 to 16, the Terps scored 11 runs in five games at the Cathedral City Classic but were shut out twice. Overall, the Terps score 2.9 runs per game while allowing 6.3 runs per game.
The balanced hitting that paced last year’s team — which scored a program record 348 runs and gave the Terps a shot at making the NCAA tournament — has yet to return, as only catcher Shannon Bustillos and outfielder Amanda McCann are hitting above .280.
Last season, the Terps had six players hit over .300, including infielder Lindsey Schmeiser, who hit .347 with 12 home runs and 59 RBIs on her way to earning ACC Freshman of the Year honors. This season, she is hitting .267.
In addition, the Terps’ power hitting has been almost nonexistent. Through their first 15 games last season, the Terps hit 11 home runs, but Schmeiser has the Terps’ only homer through the 15 games this season. While the long balls haven’t returned, the Terps showed some potential to hit with power with four doubles over the weekend.
“We had some good outings offensively,” Watten said. “For the most part, we just have to be consistent from game to game.”
Though Watten has never had a team start with this many losses, she has had a team collapse after a near-perfect start. In 2008, the Terps began the season winning 19 of 20 games before finishing 17-22 and missing the postseason.
“It’s just really recognizing that this is the first stage of the season,” Watten said.
Watten knows the Terps still have plenty of the season left — including all of ACC play — and that 15 games is not enough time to consider her team a disappointment.
“We have to keep going because we have a hell of a lot of season left,” Watten said. “We don’t have time to be looking back.”
