Maryland softball faced trouble from Rutgers freshman sensation Ella Harrison in the circle. Harrison, who threw three complete game shutouts last week — including a no-hitter — was named D1 Softball’s most recent Pitcher of the Week.
The Terps only notched two hits as Harrison fired another complete game outing. They endured woes both pitching and hitting, falling to the Scarlet Knights at Frederick Douglass Field on Friday in their Big Ten opener, 5-1.
Harrison entered the day with a Big Ten-leading 124 strikeouts. Her first two punch outs of the afternoon came in the second inning.
The Terps (10-12, 0-1 Big Ten) put two runners on, but junior Sammi Woods and sophomore Mariah Penta both struck out swinging to end the inning. Harrison came into the game on a 34 ⅓-inning streak without allowing an earned run, holding firm after the series opener.
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The stretch just barely held in the third frame when Mazie MacFarlane scored in Maryland’s weirdest play of the season. The graduate student’s shot to right field was practically caught at the fence by Rutgers (14-15, 1-0 Big Ten) redshirt freshman Stephanie Kraska, but the ball slipped out the top of her glove and over the fence.
The play was scored as a four-run error on Kraska. MacFarlane was only accredited with a run and no hits on the play as Harrison’s elite streak remained intact.
The Terps had their own defensive woe, letting the Scarlet Knights score their first run on an overthrow to second base on a steal attempt in a first-and-third situation. Maryland seemed unclear on the play regarding who would receive the ball, which resulted in catcher Sam Bean’s throw reaching the outfield. A similar play against Georgia Southern the previous weekend cost the Terps their lead and ultimately the game.
That miscommunication continued for Maryland through the game, its worst coming in the sixth. A routine pop fly from freshman Kelsey Hoekstra dropped in left field, and freshman Kelsie Riggan advanced on the next at bat as a pinch runner from a throwing error. Redshirt sophomore Gaelen Kelly scored Riggan for an unearned run on a single up the middle.
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Rutgers’ batting strategy only exploited the Terps’ defensive woes. The Scarlet Knights passed up on power hitting for multiple bunt situations instead, putting down three by the fourth inning en route to a pair of runs.
Julia Shearer struggled pitching consistently to Rutgers all afternoon, often just missing the outside corner. She won two full-count battles in the fourth inning to keep her campaign in the circle alive, but her outing ended in the fifth when freshman Baileigh Burtis brought home a pair of runs on a shot to center field.
Shearer’s third hit allowed of the inning and sixth overall brought junior Keira Bucher in relief. Bucher gave up a run in the bottom of the sixth, the final strike for the Scarlet Knights in a comfortable result.
Maryland got off to a disappointing start to its conference campaign. It struck out three times, all swinging, and trailed since the bottom of the third. The Terps are expected to face the freshman at least once more, needing to win each of the next two games of the series to secure a series win.
