Entering the seventh inning Saturday against Villanova, Maryland softball held a comfortable 6-1 lead. But the five-run edge quickly shrunk to one when Villanova scored four runs on five hits.
Pitcher Sydney Golden, who had three strikeouts through 6 ⅓ innings, came out of the game, leaving pitcher Sami Main to save the Terps from suffering their first loss of the weekend.
With the tying run on third and one out, Main came through. She struck out her first batter and then forced an easy pop up to shortstop Regan Kerr to end the game.
With their 6-5 win over Villanova, the Terps closed out an undefeated tournament in their first home weekend on the season after defeating UMBC and Rhode Island on Thursday and Bryant on Friday.
“We had a lot of different wins this weekend,” Wright said. “And I thought they did a really nice job this game in particular hanging onto that win.”
Playing without leading hitter Taylor Okada, who usually bats at the top of the order and gets on base more than 50 percent of the time, the Terps had no trouble making up for the loss of production.
Okada sat out against Villanova after leaving Friday’s game against Bryant with an injury, but will be back in the lineup soon, according to Wright.
After a scoreless first inning, the Terps started got on the board in the bottom of the second. Second baseman Bailey Boyd got the first hit of the inning and barely managed to reach third base on a Sammie Stefan sacrifice bunt. And after first baseman Taylor Wilson was walked, left fielder Micaela Abbatine grounded out to second base and sent Boyd home to take a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the third, Golden struck out her second Villanova batter of the day to maintain the one-run lead. Golden’s strong early outing was emblematic of the entire pitching staff’s performance throughout the weekend, where they allowed just 13 runs in four games.
“They attacked the zone, and they got themselves out of big situations,” Wright said. “I thought they made big pitches in big situations.”
In the bottom of the third, catcher Gracie Voulgaris singled to right field with two outs, and Boyd followed up with a single of her own to put runners on second and first for Stefan.
The sophomore designated player stepped up to the plate and bombed a three-run homer over center field to give the Terps a commanding 4-0 advantage.
Though Maryland loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth and even forced Villanova into a pitching change, the Wildcats came out unscathed. Villanova made it 4-1 in the top of the fifth as third baseman Anissa Amarillas hit a solo homer off Golden.
Villanova shortstop Delaney Switzer made a diving catch in left field to keep the Terps without a run in the fifth inning, but things opened up for Maryland in the sixth as they tacked on two runs.
Main’s save in the final inning capped off a weekend of impressive pitching for Maryland, starting with pitcher Kiana Carr’s first career win against UMBC.
“That felt good,” Carr said. “It was nice to have it be a team win. I didn’t feel alone, and it was always a collective thing.”
Maryland will face Virginia at home Tuesday, the team’s final test before heading into conference play Friday against Minnesota.
“Just getting comfortable playing at home and going 4-0 right away is what we wanted to do,” Boyd said. “It’s a great start for us, and we’re just excited for the rest of our games coming up.
