Terrapins softball coach Julie Wright said earlier this week that if the right matchup presented itself, pitcher Madison Martin would get a chance to start.
Martin capitalized when her time came.
On Friday morning in the Terps’ first game of the FAU tournament against Boston, she pitched six innings, allowing four hits and surrendering just one run in a 3-2 win. She also recorded six strikeouts.
Martin’s effort was enough to propel the Terps to victory despite the team’s struggles to drive in runners — the Terps turned seven hits and six walks into only three runs.
In the second inning, infielder Skylynne Ellazar had an RBI single to give the Terps an early 1-0 lead. She came into the weekend with a team-leading .406 average and went 2-for-3 with a walk against the Terriers.
Outfielder Sarah Calta, who entered play with a .167 average, extended the lead to 3-0 with a two-run single in the sixth.
Those extra runs proved essential.
The Terriers battled back with two runs in the seventh and put runners on second and third with one out. But pitcher Hannah Dewey got a strikeout and groundout to end the game.
Martin pitched well as a reliever in the second game of the day — a 4-1 loss to Columbia — but six more strikeouts from the junior weren’t enough for the Terps to overcome the Lions.
Columbia jumped out to a fast start against pitcher Brenna Nation, who allowed four runs in the first. The Lions wouldn’t score again, though.
Still, the Terps couldn’t come back despite putting runners in scoring position several times. Their lone run came in the seventh inning with two outs.
The Terps (4-8) face Columbia again tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. and play FAU at 8:15 p.m.
