Maryland softball led Indiana by four in the top of the third inning on Sunday. Junior right-hander Keira Bucher had started in the circle and held the best team in the country by batting average to only four hits.
But after a rain delay, Bucher fell apart in the fourth inning and allowed six runs. None of her counterparts could help her in the circle, as Bri Godfrey and Julia Shearer each allowed at least four more in a deadly 15-run inning for Indiana.
The Terps have surrendered the most runs in an inning by a Big Ten team so far this season.
“We’re just not pitching well enough,” coach Lauren Karn said. “Pitchers aren’t executing as well as they should, and we just can’t find our way out of it.”
Sunday’s showing marked the second time in three games where Maryland has collapsed in an inning and put itself in run-rule territory. The Terps dropped game three against UCLA the previous weekend, 1-10, after an eight-run fifth inning. Maryland only used two pitchers that game, but neither could get a strikeout to close it out.
[Maryland softball extends losing streak to 7 as offense struggles against Indiana]
The pitching rotation still lacks a true ace— a struggle that has plagued Maryland across its seven-game losing streak. Godfrey and Shearer have competed for the role, but the two have allowed a combined 152 hits in 38 appearances. The Terps have to rely on each player’s speciality throws because no one has the speed to blow the ball by a batter.
Karn has turned to Bucher, her usual closer, in a time where her starters are struggling. The junior offers a range of offspeed pitches from a drop ball to a changeup. The right-hander picked up 15 innings, including two starts, across the UCLA and Indiana series.
“It’s giving us a different opportunity to give a different look,” Karn said. “So then when we do need to go back to maybe Bri or Julia, we’re doing that with a completely different speed and look.”
But Bucher has had her own struggles. She gave up 10 hits in Sunday’s game — a new career-high. Karn said before the fourth inning her pitcher was working too low in the zone. When the Hoosiers saw a pitch in the zone, they turned on it.
The lack of a No. 1 in the circle also has added pressure on Maryland’s defense. Its 96.1 fielding percentage is in the Big Ten’s top half, but the Terps still allowed four errors under pressure in that disastrous inning.
[Maryland softball implodes, allows 15-run inning in 20-10 loss to Indiana]
To recover from the performances, Karn is getting her pitchers to reflect after every pitch instead of each at bat. She wants her young rotation to identify adjustments they need to make in the middle of an inning on their own.
All five of Maryland’s pitchers have at least one more year of eligibility. Karn hopes they will continue to grow by facing these struggles and lessons now.
“You don’t get any better when you’re able to coast,” Karn said. “And so when you are going up and down, you just hope that when you hit the next peak, it’s higher than the previous peak.”
