Sydney Lewis approached the plate with runners on second and third in the fourth inning. Maryland softball’s home run leader stood still as Saint Joseph’s relief pitcher Marla Freiwald stepped into the circle.
Freiwald went first pitch fastball, and Lewis swung. The ball jumped off the junior’s bat and directly over the center field fence to score three runs for the Terps.
Maryland produced lots of offense in its 8-0 win over Saint Joseph’s on Tuesday. The Terps totaled 11 hits in their home opener at the Maryland Softball Stadium.
Maryland’s ability to consistently and cleanly connect with the ball powered it to victory over the Hawks. That was something Karn had been waiting for her team to figure out.
“[It’s] nothing too big, nothing too fancy, but being willing to just put the ball in play and make them defense,” Karn said. “I think we did a really nice job with that.”
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Caitlyn Cornwell got the Terps their first hit with a bunt in the opening inning. The ball barely moved off the sophomore’s bat and dropped in front of the plate as she took first base. Cornwell, who had 11 hits entering the day, went 2-2 at the plate with a walk.
Maryland (7-10) seemed to be repeating its walk struggles in the first. Starter Julia Shearer walked two batters early but two put-outs from her defense got the Terps out of the inning scoreless.
Shearer struck out two in the second and held strong through the matchup. Batters struggled to hit her changeups and drop balls all evening, accounting for three of her seven strikeouts against the Hawks — a new career high. The sophomore allowed three hits and walked three batters in six innings.
Maryland ran the bases around the Hawks in the third inning. Cornwell and Mazie MacFarlane each stole second and ended up in scoring position. Freshman Matti Benson singled up the middle, sending the two home for the Terps’ first runs of the game.
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Another two runs came home off three straight singles from Sam Bean, Bailey Murphy and Mariah Penta to increase the Terps’ lead to 4-0. They had six hits against Saint Joseph’s pitcher Jules Scogna in the third inning that carried Coach Lauren Karn’s team through the rest of the game.
“That third inning with four runs … just kind of broke it open for us,” Karn said. “I feel like that picked up our energy once we started getting more people on base.”
The Hawks responded with two quick hits from Meghan Sinkus and Riley York to start the fourth, but a foul out and two straight strikeouts by Shearer ended their rally.
Maryland continued to pound the ball in the fourth inning. A MacFarlane bunt single and a Cornwell walk set up Lewis for her three-run shot that put the Hawks out of reach.
MacFarlane secured the victory in the sixth inning with a shot to left-center field. The ball ricocheted off the fence and Madison Runyan scored to cap the game.
