Maryland softball twice loaded the bases with less than two outs during Sunday’s series finale against Michigan State, but the Terps managed only two runs, going hitless with runners in scoring position.
In Michigan State’s 6-2 win to sweep the series, Maryland stranded 11 runners. It’s the second straight sweep for Maryland (7-26-1) to start its Big Ten season.
Michigan State, meanwhile, ranks fifth in the nation in home runs per game (1.26). In Friday and Saturday’s outings, the Terps kept the Spartans in the park, but that changed on Sunday in pitcher Madison Martin’s second start in the series.
Spartans outfielder Lea Foerster led off the bottom of the first inning with a double, her third in the series. Infielder Kaitlyn Eveland singled to score Foerster before infielder Sarah Gutknecht powered her seventh home run of the season. In the second, outfielder Lexi White hit a solo shot to left to put the Spartans up, 4-0.
“We just left a couple pitches where we didn’t want to have them,” coach Julie Wright said. “Their big power hitters are lift kind of hitters, and their focus is to hit balls out of the ballpark. With a good hitting softball club as they are, I think when you miss, there’s always the likelihood that it’s going to be lifted out of the ballpark with that kind of hitter.”
[Read more: Maryland softball had two hits in its 2-0 loss to Michigan State]
The Terps fought back in the fourth when infielder Anna Kufta led off with a single and infielder Skylynne Ellazar followed with a bunt single. Catcher Kristina Dillard loaded the bases with a walk, but the Terps still lacked consistency to capitalize on the advantage.
Infielder Juli Strange worked her fourth walk of the series to get one run back, but outfielders Kassidy Cross and Amanda Brashear struck out and outfielder Destiney Henderson flew out to strand three runners.
“We’ve been hitting the ball and getting runners on with walks, we just haven’t been plating the runners,” Wright said.
The Terps and Spartans both had seven hits on Sunday. Maryland hit .176 with runners on base and were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Michigan State hit .400 and.500 in those categories, respectively.
“We use the term ‘Clutch up,'” Wright said. “We talked about it in our postgame discussion, and that’ll be the big focus of the week for everybody.”
But in the circle, pitcher Hannah Dewey kept the games close in her outings. She gave up two hits and two runs in four relief innings on Sunday. On Saturday, she allowed four hits and two runs in six innings. The weekend came without a win, but the senior’s performances are promising for Wright.
“I really loved her preparation last week prior to coming up to Michigan State,” Wright said. “I was able to catch her bullpen last week and she had a great learning day with our pitching coach … She really did some great work on her drop and her change.”
Keeping the ball down in the zone helped Dewey hold the Spartans to two extra base hits in her 10 innings in the series. In the field, Maryland committed only one error in the series, the team’s lowest error count for a weekend series this year. Improvement from Kufta at shortstop and Ellazar at second base helped mend a defense with the lowest fielding percentage in the Big Ten.
Kufta and Ellazar combined to turn two double plays in the third and fourth, negating walks from Dewey. In the sixth, Ellazar dove to pick a grounder to her left and threw the runner out from her knees.
“Kufta worked hard all week, doing extra all week, to make sure that she brought a better game defensively,” Wright said, “because, you know, she’s a catcher playing shortstop. She worked hard all week to work on her feet and work on her hands, and I think that really showed up in the series.”
