The Terrapins softball team had an uneven weekend, but it recorded a memorable victory over previously undefeated Florida Atlantic.
Still, coach Julie Wright wanted to see more from the Terps during their five games in Florida. The team went 2-3 in the weekend tournament.
Wright used the word “inconsistent” to sum up the Terps’ overall performance and said her players failed to compete on every play as she has asked them to do.
“We’re just not doing that right now,” she said.
The Terps started the tournament with a win over Boston, but lost consecutive contests to Columbia.
On Saturday night, the Terps faced Florida Atlantic, which received votes in the last national poll. In a back-and-forth affair, they captured an 8-7 triumph in 11 innings.
The team blew leads in the seventh, ninth and tenth innings before finally holding on to win in the 11th. An RBI double from infielder Corey Schwartz and an RBI single from infielder Skylynne Ellazar gave the team a two-run cushion.
“It was a one-in-a-million type of game,” catcher Kristina Dillard said. “I don’t think I’d ever played in a game that went so long and so late.”
She added: “That game was a vision of what we’re capable of.”
Dillard, who leads the Terps with a .388 batting average, went 3-for-3 with four RBIs and a home run against Florida Atlantic.
Throughout the weekend, the Terps leaned on pitcher Madison Martin. Against Florida Atlantic, she pitched four innings of relief and allowed just one earned run. She leads the team with a 1.73 ERA this season.
Even though the win over Florida Atlantic was a highlight, the Terps finished the weekend with a losing record after slipping up Sunday in a 10-4 loss to Stony Brook.
Wright said she didn’t believe fatigue was a factor in the loss, even though the Terps played until after midnight on Saturday. Instead, the coach attributed the team’s up-and-down tournament performance to a lack of consistent focus.
“It’s definitely a learning experience,” Martin said. “We’re still trying to figure out who we are as a team.”
Dillard said she hopes the team’s mistakes “light a fire under us.”
“It is hard, but honestly it’s good for us,” she said. “This is where we’re being challenged.”