In the sixth inning of Game 2 of Maryland softball’s doubleheader on Wednesday, Rutgers brought in Dresden Maddox to pitch.
Maddox had thrown a complete-game shutout in the first matchup of the afternoon, but the Maryland dugout wasn’t scared to face the senior hurler a second time.
“We were excited to hit her,” infielder Corey Schwartz said. “We were ready to redeem ourselves.”
But the Terps again couldn’t manage much production against Maddox, failing to score against her in the game’s final two innings. Maddox finished with nine scoreless innings on the day, and the Scarlet Knights held the Terps to three runs total in the sweep.
Infielder Lindsey Schmeiser admitted the team was frustrated by its performance, but she hopes the Terps can rebound when they travel to No. 2 Michigan this weekend.
“Part of the game is failure,” Schmeiser said. “You’ve got to find some way to bury it.”
While Maryland infielder Skylynne Ellazar singled up the middle in the first inning of Maddox’s starting appearance, she was stranded on base. The Terps didn’t register another hit until the sixth inning.
In the final two innings of Game 1, the Terps improved, recording three hits and a walk against Maddox. But they still couldn’t score.
“We didn’t take hacks,” Schwartz said. “We were just kind of lackadaisical a little bit.”
With Maddox back in the circle in Game 2, the Terps again threatened with a pair of walks in the sixth. Once again, they couldn’t capitalize.
“She was spinning the ball, and we were struggling with it,” coach Julie Wright said. “We solved the second pitcher a little bit better than [Maddox].”
The Terps managed to tack on three runs in Game 2, all against Rutgers starting pitcher Shayla Sweeney in the latter outing. Two came off Schmeiser’s bat from a home run in the fifth frame.
“[Maddox] was a little bit spinny and slower, which we have a problem with,” Schmeiser said. “[Sweeney] was a little more straight.”
Schwartz reached base twice against Sweeney, too, the first time with an 11-pitch walk and then with a second-pitch line drive up the middle.
“She threw it inside, so I just hacked at it,” Schwartz said of her single. “I knew that she was throwing strikes early in the count, so I knew that I had to hack.”
Those at-bats showcase the type of approach Schwartz said her team needs to execute in the upcoming contests against the Wolverines.
“We have to be aggressive but smart,” Schwartz said. “Once you get your pitch, you’ve got to swing at it.”
Aside from Maddox’s effective pitching, Wright attributed the Terps’ struggles to a lack of energy at the plate. Schmeiser countered, though, that the team needs to overcome such setbacks.
“It’s just adjusting,” Schmeiser said. “We’ve got to make adjustments in the box, during at-bats, [and] earlier in the game.”
The Terps know what they have to do at the plate: have high energy, be aggressive when they see good pitches, adjust during the game and ignore failures.
But they also know that sometimes a pitcher like Maddox on a day like Wednesday can get the best of them.
“You can hit all you want in practice, but you still have to make the adjustment in the game,” Schmeiser said. “It doesn’t matter if you hit all day.”
