Maryland softball pitcher Hannah Dewey crouched in the circle after her pitch just missed the outside corner to walk Michigan infielder Tera Blanco in the seventh inning. It put runners on first and second with one out. Then, later that inning, Dewey crouched again as she walked catcher Katie Alexander to load the bases.

Outfielder Kelly Christner followed with a bloop single into left field to score pinch runner Haley Hoogenraad and tie the game, and outfielder Courtney Richardson hit a sacrifice fly to give the Wolverines (31-9-1) the lead.

That sequence led No. 18 Michigan to a 4-3 victory in the rubber match over the Terps.

“Dewey made some great pitches,” coach Julie Wright said despite Dewey allowing two runs in the seventh. “It didn’t fall our way.” The second-year coach said Maryland’s pitchers worked ahead and kept the ball down, which limited Michigan’s offense.

After falling behind via Richardson’s home run in the second, Maryland (9-30-1) pulled itself back in the game. Michigan pitcher Megan Betsa allowed only four hits, but gave up three runs as the Terps took a lead into the seventh inning. While Betsa held the Terps to one hit Friday, Wright told her players to move back in the box to counter Betsa’s groove.

When infielder Juli Strange made contact in the fourth inning, Wright raised her hand. The leadoff hitter launched a home run over the left-field fence for Maryland’s first hit of the game and to tie the contest at one. The hit gave the redshirt senior 120 runs scored in her Maryland career, tied for the fifth-most in program history.

“That kid, it’s guts,” Wright said on Saturday. “And that kid’s a fifth-year senior here, who plays with all heart. She plays from the inside out. She is Maryland.”

Then in the fifth, outfielder Sarah Calta followed outfielder Kassidy Cross’ single to with a two-RBI triple. When Cross hurled around the bases to score from first, sliding in at home and beating the throw, infielder Skylynne Ellazar leapt from the dugout and jumped on the freshman.

The difference between this year and last year, Calta said, is the team chemistry.

“We hold each other accountable, but we also love each other. We’re a family,” Calta said. “Even in the lows, we pick each other up, but in the highs, that’s when you’re going to see stuff like that because we want ourselves to be successful.”

Calta tore her ACL against the Wolverines last April. Less than a year later, she hit her second extra-base hit of the year.

Despite four hits, the Terps managed three runs based on timely hitting.

“We always preach team softball,” Calta said. Michigan “had [nine] hits off of us but they didn’t really have timely hitting, and that’s why the score was so close. So, that’s what it comes down to.”

But in the seventh, Michigan capitalized on three walks to take a 4-3 edge. In the bottom half of the frame, Cross walked and Calta singled to put runners on first and second with one down. Yet Strange grounded into a fielder’s choice and outfielder Amanda Brashear struck out to end the game.

“This is the game that we can learn the most from that we played all year,” Wright said. “We can flip this; you just have to take this game forward.”