Though Maryland softball fell to Minnesota 6-5 on Friday night after a sixth-inning grand slam by the Golden Gophers, coach Julie Wright thought the matchup could have gone either way and planned to use the same game plan Saturday.
But it was deja vu for the Terps after Minnesota infielder Natalie DenHartog hit a grand slam off pitcher Kiana Carr in the first frame to put her squad up 4-0 early. Four Carr walks later, and Wright turned to pitcher Victoria Galvan in an attempt to stanch the early bleeding.
But with a six-run fourth inning, No. 20 Minnesota took a 16-3 lead, and the Terps were unable to find stability in the pitcher’s circle to counter the Gophers’ firepower, ultimately falling in a lopsided 19-5 loss.
“It’s hard to get through a game like that,” Wright said. “When it starts to roll that way, it’s hard on all sides of the ball, and I think the most important thing you can do in a game like this is throw it out and move on.”
After coming in for Carr, Galvan struck out her first batter and got the Terps out of the half inning without any further damage. In the bottom half, center fielder JoJo McRae hit a single through the left side and got home three plays later for the Terps first score, cutting Minnesota’s lead to 4-1.
But the Golden Gophers extended their lead to four in the top of the second on an RBI single from infielder Hope Brandner, and the deficit grew even more in the next inning.
The Gophers hit back-to-back singles off Galvan, and then a bunt from Ali Lindner followed by a two-RBI double from Makenna Partain put Minnesota up 8-1. With no outs, it was time for the Terps’ second pitching change of the day in a game that had quickly gotten out of hand.
Pitcher Amelia Jarecke took the circle immediately after the two scores for Minnesota, but the freshman quickly walked three out of six batters faced in the inning, and the Golden Gophers pushed their lead to 10-1.
Third baseman Anna Kufta bombed a two-run homer over left center to cut the lead down to 10-3, her fifth homer of the season and 32nd RBI, but Minnesota continued to have its way on offense.
Jarecke left the game in the top of the fourth with seven earned runs allowed and six walks in 1 ⅓ innings, and Carr reentered the circle.
But Carr had as much luck in the circle as she did the first time around. Minnesota scored six runs in the fourth frame to balloon the lead to 16-3, highlighted by two two-RBI doubles off both Jarecke and Carr.
“People were getting hit,” Wright said. “It was just about changing their momentum to try and just get through that inning.”
In the final frame, Minnesota sealed its win even further with a three-run homer from Brandner, putting the Terps into a 16-run hole that was too big to dig out of despite a two-RBI double from shortstop Bailey Boyd in the bottom of the fifth.
The Terps’ late surge forced the Gophers to put pitcher Sydney Smith back into the circle after leaving in the bottom of the fourth, but it was far too little, too late to have any meaningful impact.
“You can’t dwell on a game like this,” Wright said. “At this point, you move on … and we come out and we attack tomorrow, because we know we have an opportunity to win against this team.”
The Terps will try to avoid the sweep Sunday, facing Minnesota for the final game of the series at 1 p.m.
“We have to come out emotionally ready,” Wright said. “It’s important for us to understand what we need to do tomorrow to win.”
