Entering its home series against Indiana, the Maryland softball team hoped for a turnaround after an abysmal three-game series sweep to Illinois in which the Illini scored 38 runs.
In a midweek doubleheader against St. Francis on Wednesday, the Terps allowed seven runs and split the two games.
That apparent improvement unraveled quickly in Maryland’s five-inning 10-1 loss to the Hoosiers on Friday, as Indiana dominated the Terps in every phase of the game.
“Just a terrible defensive game, and they know it,” coach Julie Wright said. “We didn’t pitch well, we didn’t hit well and we certainly played terrible defense. Flat-out, we did not play a good game.”
Indiana jumped all over Maryland starter Sydney Golden, tagging her for nine runs on 11 hits in 3 ⅓ innings. She also received no help from her defense, as the Terps made four errors that led to five of Golden’s runs being unearned.
Indiana also wreaked havoc on the basepaths, stealing three bases including a run-scoring double steal in the fourth.
“A lot of that is the middle infield not securing the ball for our catchers,” second baseman Skylynne Ellazar said. “Sometimes they just read … the pitch, a lot of steals against us come on changeups so we need to get better at picking up on that.”
The Terps’ offense was silenced by Indiana starter Tara Trainer. Trainer threw all five innings, allowing just four hits, walking none and striking out four.
“It was lack of execution on our part offensively,” Wright said. “We knew she was going to miss with that screwball and throw that changeup as often as she could. We just didn’t operate within our gameplan at all.”
After a scoreless first inning, the bottom of the Hoosiers order opened the scoring in the top of the second. A two-out walk to the No. 7 hitter, designated player Aimilia McDonough, kept the inning alive for first baseman Taylor Uden’s RBI double and an RBI single by left fielder Taylor Lambert.
Indiana got two more runs on a squeeze bunt and an error in the third before a three-run home run by Uden broke the game open. Maryland got one run back in the bottom of the frame on an RBI fielder’s choice by Ellazar, but were unable to do any more against Trainer.
“She started throwing her changeup a lot, and that’s just something we’re going to have to adjust to,” Ellazar said. “We’re probably going to see her in game three [Sunday] so we need to make an immediate adjustment to her.”
The run-rule loss was Maryland’s sixth of the year and first at home. After the game, Wright gathered her team in left field and delivered an emphatic postgame message to her team.
“I challenged them competitively and told them that this isn’t how we’re coming out tomorrow,” Wright said. “This is just one game — you’ve got to move forward — but I’ve seen this piece of us a little too often lately, and I told them, ‘No more.'”
