Aubrey Wurst started in the circle for Maryland softball on Tuesday against Colgate. The freshman looked to redeem herself after allowing two earned runs in just ⅔’s of an inning in Sunday’s win over Rutgers.
Wurst started hot this time around, firing three straight strikes past senior Jillian Herbst for an early punchout. She retired her first six batters during her four-inning showing in the circle.
The Terps surrendered a season-low one hit in a 9-0 mercy rule win over Colgate at Maryland Softball Complex. Wurst and Genevieve Ebaugh teamed up for one of Maryland’s most dominant pitching performances of the season.
“What’s special is coming off a real battle on Sunday, taking yesterday off and then coming out here today and picking up where we left off,” coach Lauren Karn said, “that’s really good momentum to go into this weekend.”
Wurst allowed just three baserunners in four innings and showed major growth working herself out of tough stretches. Down 3-0 in the third inning on first-year Mackenzie Lewis with a runner on first, Karn came out to talk to the freshman.
[Maryland softball records season-high 15 hits, defeats Rutgers 11-7]
Wurst recollected herself, working the count full and forcing a weak pop-up to shortstop.
The Terps turned a double play on the flyout, and Wurst’s fourth strikeout of the evening ended the inning.
“I was focusing on keeping the moment small and just not overcomplicating things,” Wurst said. “It was really nice to just be able to go out there, and keep moments small and throw how I know how to throw.”
Maryland (13-12) had nine hits in the contest and was aggressive on the bases from the first inning. Caitlyn Cornwell earned the team’s first steal when Colgate (8-16) pitcher Alexa Acker was inattentive getting back to the circle.
The Terps roared from the dugout as Cornwell popped up from her slide, and again when she scored. That contagious energy powered Maryland through its at bats, going through eight of its nine batters in the inning.
The Terps advanced on a wild pitch and amassed four stolen bases on Colgate (8-16) in just the first. Cornwell — Maryland’s leader in that category — had three of them.
[Maryland softball drops conference opener to Rutgers, 5-1]
That heads-up mentality paid dividends for Maryland in the third. With two outs, Taylor Borovac hit a weak grounder for what would’ve been an easy third out. Terps runners Bailey Murphy and Sammi Woods were already sprinting home regardless when Raiders first baseman Amanda DeSantis missed the toss.
Borovac advanced on a second error the next at-bat, putting herself in scoring position before Mazie MacFarlane slammed a double into deep left field. That allowed Borovac to score, giving Maryland four runs in the frame.
Maryland only had 11 stolen bases coming into the matchup. Its offense was led by Sydney Lewis, who went 3-3 at the plate, and Sam Bean, who had two RBIs.
Bean’s runs came off a fastball from Acker, which she rocketed over the left-center field fence to seal the eventual mercy rule. The shot simultaneously ended Acker’s outing, and the Terps closed out the game in the top of the fifth with Ebaugh striking out the side.
Maryland is on a three-game winning streak, its longest of the season. Karn said momentum and energy will be key to continuing that success in Oklahoma City against Michigan and Purdue this upcoming weekend.
“We’re not asking our student-athletes to come out here and be the best softball players ever,” Karn said. “We’re asking them to come out, show up with a good level of energy and be big for each other.”
