In the third inning of Maryland softball’s Saturday bout with Wisconsin, infielder Jordan Aughinbaugh sent a drive over the left field fence, scoring outfielder Kassidy Cross from first, to give the Terps 2-0 lead. It was the first time Aughinbaugh, a senior, had ever notched a home run in her career.
As Aughinbaugh was mobbed at home and smacked on top of her helmet by teammates, fellow seniors Hannah Dewey, Madison Martin and outfielder Sarah Calta embraced her the longest.
The blast topped Aughinbaugh’s list of memories with the Terps.
“My whole family is here, so it was special,”Aughinbaugh said. “Not only for me, but for them. For them to finally see that.”
But on day two of Maryland’s senior weekend, the early advantage didn’t hold, as Wisconsin (31-14, 10-11 Big Ten) came back to beat the Terps, 5-3, after a three-run sixth inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, Dewey led off with a solo homer to right center. As she rounded third, the senior received a high five from coach Julie Wright. Dewey reached in all three of her plate appearances, hitting a double and walking in the other two to mark a turnaround from her struggles at the dish.
“[Dewey’s] been having really good at bats,” coach Julie Wright said. “And I know her [.219] batting average doesn’t reflect that, but she’s been doing a really nice job hitting the ball hard. … [Her performance today] was only a matter of time.”
Dewey’s first homer of the season led to pitcher Kaitlyn Menz’s departure in the fourth. Menz started in the circle Friday, too, allowing only three hits in five innings.
Instead of helping Menz by chasing balls like in the first meeting, the Terps were more selective.
“[Today,] we just swung at good pitches,” Aughinbaugh said. “Yesterday we swung at her stuff and today I think we just attacked … the better pitches.”
Martin, meanwhile, had to work out of trouble in the fifth. With runners on second and third with no outs, a sacrifice fly from Wisconsin designated player Melanie Cross scored pinch runner Brianna Flugaur, making it a 3-2 game.
After Wisconsin hit seven extra base hits off Martin and Dewey in Friday’s loss, Martin held the Badgers to one on Saturday.
“A lot of that came from her changeup,” Wright said. “When that started to come up, that’s when she got hit a little bit. But she did a good job of keeping her ball down. Her stuff was nasty today, especially early on.”
But the Badgers tied the game with three straight singles in the sixth, knocking Martin out of the contest. Pitcher Lauren Graves entered with runners on second and third with and one out, and allowed a go-ahead two-run single to Wisconsin infielder Stephanie Lombardo that gave the Badgers a 5-3 lead.
In the bottom half of the frame, Aughinbaugh walked with two outs and infielder Skylynne Ellazar followed with a single, but the Terps (11-38-1, 4-18) couldn’t complete the comeback.
