Maryland softball pitcher Hannah Dewey crouched and put both hands on her knees in the second inning against Wisconsin after throwing a pitch just outside the zone. The senior struggled with her control out of the gate, walking three batters and allowing four runs in the first.
As Dewey faltered in the circle for the second time this weekend, pitcher Kaitlyn Menz dominated Maryland’s batting order even though she’d also faced the Terps on Friday and Saturday.
In its final game of the season, Maryland fell, 5-0, to Wisconsin, cementing a last-place finish in the Big Ten.
After Dewey and infielder Jordan Aughinbaugh blasted homers off Menz on Saturday — the former knocking the freshman out of the game in the fourth — Maryland didn’t record a hit on Sunday until catcher Kristina Dillard’s fourth-inning infield single.
“We were chasing that down ball again,” Wright said. “That’s not a place I want them to be hitting. It’s a tough pitch to swing at. And [Menz] did a really good job at getting her changeup in there for a strike early in the count.”
Though Maryland notched just four hits in the game, the Terps loaded the bases in the first. Infielder Skylynne Ellazar and Dewey walked, and infielder Anna Kufta reached on an error. But with one out, Dillard grounded a ball back to Menz in the circle, setting up an inning-ending double play.
Dewey allowed her fifth run in the third after back-to-back two-out singles. Outfielder Kelly Welsh singled with two outs and stole second before infielder Kelsey Jenkins hit an RBI single.
“She was just a little bit off,” Wright said. “I felt like the moment may have overwhelmed her a little bit, but I thought she battled hard, and I thought she did a good job after she settled down.”
Pitcher Madison Martin entered in the fourth inning and allowed one hit in three innings. Wisconsin loaded the bases after a single, walk and hit-by-pitch. But with one out, Martin forced two ground outs to end the threat and hold the deficit at five.
However, the Terps fell in order against Wisconsin pitcher Kirsten Stevens in the seventh inning to seal the season-ending series sweep.
