After a throwing error from third baseman Anna Kufta in the second inning Saturday, the Maryland softball team soon found itself in an early hole.
North Carolina first baseman Campbell Hutcherson scored all the way from first, and second baseman Leah Murray made it to third on the error, setting up her score one at-bat later when pitcher Sami Main uncorked a wild pitch.
The sequence — capped off by a home run from center fielder Kiani Ramsey for the third unearned run of the frame — gave the Terps an early deficit, largely through self-inflicted miscues. The shortfalls added up into an 11-5 loss to the Tar Heels in the second game of the Carolina Classic.
Pitcher Sami Main walked four batters in 2 ⅔ innings, bringing her total to 16 this season. Kufta added another throwing error from the hot corner before exiting from the field in the fourth inning.
In the third, Kufta misfired a throw after three straight walks — two from Main and one from relief pitchy Sydney Golden and an RBI single. Two Tar Heels scored, part of seven unearned runs the Terps surrendered.
Despite Golden securing her 200th-career strikeout, she found little success against North Carolina, either. She threw 3 ⅓ innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits.
After the Tar Heels strung together a five-run inning in the third, though, the Maryland hitters answered.
Shortstop Bailey Boyd started the fourth inning off for the Terps with a double to right-center field. Once infielder Sammie Stefan walked, first baseman Taylor Wilson crushed a three-run homer.
And after second baseman Taylor Okada doubled and center fielder JoJo McRae walked, Kufta’s two-run double cut North Carolina’s lead to six, helping to make up for her earlier defensive struggles.
But North Carolina started off the bottom of the fifth with three singles and a fielder’s choice to immediately score three runs, re-establishing a hefty lead.
Despite a leadoff walk in the sixth and a one-out single in the seventh, the Terps couldn’t dig back into the Tar Heels’ advantage.
Maryland (9-8) is now 0-2 at the Carolina Classic after losing 5-2 to George Washington on Friday and having its second game against Florida Atlantic called a no contest due to weather conditions.
