Diamond Williams created the offensive momentum Maryland softball was looking for when she smacked a single through the left side in the sixth inning.
Sydney Lewis soon capitalized.
With one big swing, the sophomore slugged a ball over the left field fence for the go-ahead two-run homer, putting the Terps ahead in the game’s closing stages.
“I felt it through my entire veins,” Lewis said. “I don’t forget that feeling. I know what it feels like. So I kind of knew.”
A close matchup for the majority of the contest, Lewis’ long ball and Courtney Wyche’s performance on the mound in the final three innings allowed Maryland to slam the door on Virginia, 2-1, on Tuesday night.
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The first inning proved to be record-grabbing for the Terps. Outfielder Megan Mikami’s single to the pitcher got her on base. Not long after, she stole second base, notching her 67th career swipe to break Maryland’s (9-13) program record.
“You can see that she respects the game, she respects her opponent, she works so incredibly hard with a great attitude every single time she comes to the field,” coach Lauren Karn said. “She deserves all of the records to be broken.”
The senior from Irvine, California has consistently started since her freshman year. Her consistently-high on-base percentages, including a .391 average this season, spur her aggressive baserunning.
Cavaliers’ infielder Bella Cabral singled to left center in the top of the second, putting one on the board for Virginia (15-8) early on. Jaeda McFarland made the out, but not in time to throw out the runner headed from second to home.
Bri Godfrey started on the mound, earning two strikeouts and four hits allowed before she was pulled in the fifth. Wyche took her place, generating a ground out while earning the same number of strikeouts as Godfrey in just one inning. It was a switch up from the usual approach of Wyche starting and Godfrey coming in to relieve her.
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“This was a really good trial for that,” Karn said, “to see what that looks like as far as throwing batters’ timing off and their ability to make adjustments … when we are going from Bri to Courtney rather than necessarily Courtney to Bri,” Karn said.
The Terps struggled to make moves offensively, failing to get on base let alone in scoring position after the Cavaliers’ pitching switch in the fourth. Senior Madison Harris, who ranked third in the country with a 0.31 ERA entering Tuesday, shut down the Terps’ lineup to end the fifth.
The momentum created by Williams and Lewis fueled the top of the lineup in the bottom of the sixth. The next three batters had successful plate appearances, loading the bases for freshman Hannah Runk. She struck out swinging, ending the inning with two runs scored.
Wyche finished out the game for Maryland, mowing down Virginia with two strikeouts and a groundout.
“I just really hope our team can continue to believe,” Karn said. “That is two wins now where it’s late in the game, we’re coming through offensively. We just need more moments like this so we can believe in each other and believe in ourselves a little bit more.”
