After the Terrapins softball team dropped the second game of a Tuesday doubleheader against Saint Francis (PA), coach Julie Wright was angry.
Earlier in the day, the Terps had defeated the Red Flash, 6-3, and displayed an aggressive hitting approach that helped them jump ahead early against ace pitcher Ketarah DeVries, who is 8-2 with a 2.51 ERA.
So Wright wasn’t happy when her team only managed three runs in their second game when facing pitcher Alexis Bower, who entered with the second-highest ERA on the Red Flash. The Terps left 10 runners on base.
A win would have given the Terps their first back-to-back victories of the season. Instead, missed opportunities at the plate contributed to a 7-3 loss.
“It’s unfortunate,” Wright said. “I’m not happy with how we lost that game. I thought it was a lack of concentration. It was a lack of effort on the offensive side of the ball, and it was just not good at all.”
The Terps stranded more than one runner in three different innings of the second contest. They left the bases loaded in the first, left two on in the third and wasted a situation in the seventh with no outs and two runners in scoring position.
Infielder Skylynne Ellazar, who provided a bright spot for the Terps with a 4-for-7 day at the plate, blamed the team’s offensive play on stagnancy.
“Between the two games, we didn’t make adjustments,” Ellazar said.
To Wright, though, it was a lack of aggression at the plate that led to the team’s nighttime downfall.
“At this point, they’re taking too many good pitches to hit,” Wright said. “They’re watching too many strikes go by instead of hacking.”
Wright doesn’t know what else she can do to instill an aggressive approach because “they are not following what we’re telling them.”
The Terps have experienced a drop-off in offensive production this season — after averaging more than six runs per game last year, they now average less than four. Plus, the team batting average has slipped from .309 to .282.
While coaches and players have sometimes pointed to inexperience as a reason for the decline, the crop of new starters have posted the team’s best statistics.
Ellazar, a first-time regular starter, leads the Terps with a .400 average, while outfielder Sarah Calta, who is also adjusting to an expanded role, ranks second. Catcher Kristina Dillard, who transferred from Louisville before the season, is fourth in hitting at a .309 clip.
Meanwhile, the team’s two seniors — infielders Corey Schwartz and Lindsey Schmeiser — have struggled. Schwartz blasted 15 home runs last season but only has one this year. And Schmeiser, who missed time due to injury, is hitting .254.
The Terps will look for those two to improve in a three-game series next weekend against Michigan State, which has a 4.12 team ERA, ranking in the bottom half of the Big Ten.
Jump-starting the offense, though, could be a challenge if the Terps continue their current approach, Wright said. The first-year coach believes the Terps “hit better when it doesn’t matter.”
“That’s a mental thing,” she said. “I need them to get a little bit tougher, quite frankly.”
