Aubrey Wurst entered the circle in the third in a tie game as Maryland softball’s starter, Genevieve Ebaugh, only lasted two innings.
The freshman retired her first two batters, but quickly threw four straight balls to Morgan Hess. Facing loud chants from the Delaware bench, Wurst rolled her shoulders back and got herself back in the zone.
“I block out everything going on around me,” Wurst said. “I was just telling myself, ‘You’re better than them, go at it.’”
Wurst struck out the next hitter, starting a string of six straight batters retired and 12 of the next 15. She gave the Terps a needed strong relief outing, and paired with their lone run scored after the second inning, led them to a 5-4 win over the Blue Hens at home on Wednesday.
Wurst’s lone baserunners allowed were four walks in five innings, striking out three to secure her fifth victory of the season. Maryland (15-15) only needed six hits with Wurst’s excellence, all of which came from different players in the lineup.
[Maryland softball earns largest Big Ten win of the year with 8-1 victory over Purdue]
Ebaugh started her third game of the season for the Terps, entering with only 7.1 innings pitched this season. She hadn’t pitched in over a week and struggled to fight through the windy gusts from the start, hitting the first Blue Hens (18-11) batter of the game. She allowed a two-run home run to junior Sydney Shaffer later that inning.
The junior struggled similarly in the second frame, hitting another batter and allowing a pair of hits that scored two runs. But the Terps’ offense responded in the bottom-half of the inning — which they didn’t do in Ebaugh’s lone loss this year. The highlight was a Julia Shearer two-run homer.
Shearer kept her spot in the batting lineup after getting the start in the bottom-third of the order all weekend in Oklahoma City. The sophomore clubbed her long ball, bringing home junior Sammi Woods.
Doubles from junior Madison Runyan, graduate student Mazie MacFarlane and freshman Matti Benson later that inning helped Maryland score another two runs, evening the score.
Then, Wurst entered and dazzled with one of her best outings this season.
[Maryland softball opens weekend with 8-0 loss to Michigan in five innings]
“I thought Gen did a really nice job staying composed and continuing to fight,” coach Lauren Karn said. “When we got down by four, I was just not really wanting us to get in any more of a hole there.”
While Wurst initially struggled, throwing three off-kilter pitches of her own, she quickly settled in despite facing slack from the Delaware bench all evening.
After being unable to capitalize on a potential rally in the bottom of the fourth, the Terps scored the run Wurst needed in the fifth inning thanks to a Blue Hens miscue. An error from third baseman Ellie Talley let graduate student Sam Bean reach base and freshman Gracie Wilson score for a 5-4 lead.
The Maryland defense, unlike Delaware’s, provided Wurst with strong play — including on the game’s final one, turning a double play to secure the win. The Terps allowed zero errors against the Blue Hens after a shaky weekend in Oklahoma that saw seven in four games.
The win improved Maryland to 3-0 at home ahead of its weekend series against No. 7 UCLA. Outings like Wurst’s and longer starts will be needed against one of the top offenses in the Big Ten.
“We’re going to need to use all of them [in] all three games,” Karn said. “[The Bruins’] offense one through nine is one of the best in the country, so our pitchers need to be ready to execute and really be locked in.
