Maryland softball’s final game of 2025 perfectly summarized its season-long struggles.
Nebraska’s 10th hit of the day walked off the Terps in the sixth inning. While Nebraska pitcher Jordyn Bahl held the Terps hitless through four innings, Maryland cycled through three pitchers in the same time.
The Terps split their first six conference games, but dropped 16 straight Big Ten matchups to close the season. Maryland posted its worst conference record since joining the Big Ten, in a season that left doubt on what coach Lauren Karn’s leadership looks like.
The Terps didn’t have one strong spot across their game that stood out. Their 96.1 fielding percentage fell in the middle of the Big Ten, while many significant batting and pitching stats fell in the bottom five spots of the conference.
“We’re trying to stay positive, even though we’re taking some hits,” Karn said in April.
Most damage during the season came from a failure to replace key pieces in the lineup. Karn, a former pitcher, opted to use the entire pitching rotation instead of recruiting a new pitcher to replace 2024 graduate Courtney Wyche.
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That strategy wasn’t successful. The pitching rotation’s ERA increased by more than a run for the second year straight. Freshman Aubrey Wurst was the only pitcher to average less than five earned runs, but featured in just two ⅔ innings in conference play.
Maryland’s expected aces had tough seasons. Junior Bri Godfrey worked on a new pitching motion that ultimately faltered as the season continued. Sophomore Julia Shearer took over the starting role for Godfrey, but allowed more than a third of Maryland’s surrendered hits this season.
The entire pitching rotation still has at least one year of eligibility, but has to pick up velocity or specialty pitches. Without a strikeout pitcher, Maryland took a different route, promoting changeup pitcher Keira Bucher into a starting role, hoping to switch it up for stronger batting orders.
“I kind of think that for us to have success, we have to show multiple pitchers,” Karn said in April. “It’s giving us a different opportunity to give a different look.”
Only three of Maryland’s hitters were returners to the starting lineup. Graduate student Mazie MacFarlane stepped into the leadoff hitter role flawlessly and led the Terps in runs, while junior Sydney Lewis added 38 RBIs to her career.
But the pair was just two of three Terps batters to finish with more than .300.
[Maryland softball’s season ends with 16th straight conference loss, falls 9-1 to Nebraska]
“The [batters] that are below that .300 mark, I would say, just aren’t as adaptable [with] making adjustments,” Karn said. “But we have to keep finding a way and keep fighting for it.”
The Terps’ schedule ranked fifth in difficulty among Big Ten teams. Maryland picked up one ranked win, a 6-3 defeat over No. 21 California in February, but posted a -68 run differential against Top 25 opponents overall.
“We were playing really good softball, and then teams, quite frankly that were better than us, were ending up beating us,” Karn said. “The more hits we took in that manner, the harder I think it’s become to really believe that we can win late in games.”
The disappointing campaign resulted in the Terps missing the Big Ten tournament for the first time since 2021. Maryland hasn’t made the NCAA tournament since 2012 under Laura Watten and is on its fifth coach since that season.
Recruiting will be critical to fill in the gaps on the Terps’ roster. Along with gaping holes already across the lineup, graduate students MacFarlane and Sam Bean will depart the program. Karn said she is looking to add help “in every area” across the lineup.
