Weekend Recap: Maryland softball picks up big win but drops series against No. 18 Michigan

The Maryland softball team welcomed No. 18 Michigan into College Park for a three-game series this past weekend. The Wolverines entered Friday with 29 wins and a 9-1 Big Ten record, while the Terps were sitting at 8-28-1 and only one conference win.

On paper, Michigan seemed primed for a dominant weekend, but Madison Martin, Hannah Dewey, Anna Kufta and the rest of Maryland’s pitching staff had something to say about that. The Terps put Michigan to the test in all three games, winning one, but ultimately dropping the series.

Friday: Betsa dominates, fans 14 in Wolverine’s win

In the first game of the series Michigan pulled out a 5-1 victory in a pitcher’s duel between the Wolverine’s ace Megan Betsa and Maryland starter Madison Martin.

Martin, a redshirt senior, who came into the matchup with a 6-10 record had an impressive outing against a Michigan lineup that features a plethora of players batting over .300.

Going the distance, she allowed four earned runs on eight hits while striking out four Wolverine batters. The Michigan offense was able to scrape across a few runs early when Michigan shortstop Abby Ramirez earned a painful RBI after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the first. Then in the second, sophomore Faith Canfield plated sophomore Katie Alexander on an RBI single to make it 2-0.

Following Canfield’s hit, Martin settled in and held Michigan scoreless through the next three innings. Her ability to mix in changeups with fastballs had the Wolverine hitters swinging out of their cleats all night.

However, as Martin entered the final two innings of her outing and approached 100 pitches, the Wolverines’ familiarity caught up to Martin, who allowed three more runs. In the sixth, junior Amanda Vargas made it 4-1 with a two-run homer, her third of the year. Then in the seventh, a fielding error by Maryland second baseman Skylynne Ellazar gave Michigan their fifth run of the game.

Overall, Martin’s outing could have been enough to earn a win, but unfortunately for her and the Terps’ offense, Megan Betsa was in the circle for Michigan.

The senior pitcher for Michigan continued her dominant season, throwing a complete game one-hitter for her 16th win of the season. Betsa overpowered the Maryland hitters all night, adding 14 strikeouts to her season total that was already over 250. Besides two hit batters and one pitch left in the strike zone, Betsa was flawless as the Terps never even had a runner in scoring position.

Yet that one that was pitch left in the strike zone would be all Maryland needed to keep Betsa from completing a shutout or a no-hitter. In the bottom of the first inning, Terps shortstop and freshman phenom Anna Kufta launched a solo homer over the left field fence on the first pitch she saw from Betsa.

Kufta production would not be enough as Betsa would rattle of six consecutive scoreless innings to give Michigan their 30th win of the season and the 1-0 series lead.

Saturday: Terps pitching leads to thrilling upset

In front of a record-setting crowd of 1,015 fans, Maryland pitched its way to a series-evening victory over Michigan.

Senior pitcher Hannah Dewey would get the nod for the Terps on Saturday, and she delivered in a big way.

Entering the game, Dewey’s 2017 season was not what she was hoping for. A 2-11 record with a 5.53 era was not how the senior wanted to finish her career in College Park. However, after a promising showing in the prior series, head coach Julie Wright and Dewey were hoping to see more improvement this weekend.

They got just that.

In her six-plus innings of work, Dewey put up what could be her most impressive outing of the season by only allowing one run on four hits. Her success on Saturday stemmed from her ability to pound the strike zone. Dewey came into the game with 65 walks compared to only 32 strikeouts, a main reason for her struggles. On Saturday, she walked just one batter and constantly got a head in the count. With no free passes, the Wolverine batters had little success creating traffic on the base paths.

While Dewey performed strong in the circle, the Maryland offense did just enough against Michigan starter Tera Blanco to take the lead. Blanco (14-2, 2.06 ERA) had been dominating opposing lineups just as much as her teammates Betsa, but the Terps’ found success against the junior right-hander.

In the first inning, freshman Anna Kufta singled through the right side driving in scoring senior Juli Strange from third. For the second straight game, Kufta had been Maryland’s only offense.

That was until Juli Strange stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning. With two outs and no one on the basepaths, Strange took Blanco’s pitch deep to center field for a solo homer, her second of the season.

Those two runs would be all the Maryland pitching staff needed. However, the Terps’ had a small scare in the top of the seventh inning. Three outs away from victory, the Michigan lineup was able to get a run from a Courtney Richardson RBI double. With a runner in scoring position and no outs, head coach Julie Wright opted to bring in Friday’s starter Madison Martin to close out the game.

Martin delivered, shutting down the Michigan threat and giving Maryland a series-tying victory. This was the Terps’ third win against a ranked opponent this year, but playing in front of a record crowd made it that much more memorable.

“It’s always great to beat a ranked team when you break a record in your stadium,” winning pitcher Hannah Dewey said. “That was awesome.”

This win also marked the 200th career victory for coach Julie Wright, but the head coach was more proud of her team’s accomplishments.

“We came in, we played hard, we put our pieces in and it was our puzzle,” Wright said. “We just did our thing, and that’s good enough, good enough to beat the best in the country.”

Sunday: Michigan’s late rally clinches series victory

Sunday afternoon’s matchup between Maryland and Michigan seemed eerily familiar to the contest Friday night.

Both Madison Martin and Megan Betsa were back in the circle, and the two continued their pitching duel that began in the first game of the series.

Sophomore outfielder Courtney Richardson started the scoring for Michigan with a solo shot to center field in the second inning. Besides that one swing, the Wolverine hitters could not figure out Martin, going down quietly through the middle innings.

Trailing 1-0 in the fourth, senior Juli Strange stepped to the plate with Maryland desperately needing some offense. For the second straight day the redshirt senior delivered, sending a Betsa pitch over the left field wall to even the score.

“That’s a fifth-year senior moment,” head coach Julie Wright said about Strange’s blast. “You hope for those thing for those types of player that give everything they have, to the game to the program. I was just really excited for her.”

Heading into the fifth inning, the teams were locked at one, but an RBI single from Tera Blanco scored Natalie Peters and gave Michigan the lead. After another single, Martin found herself in a bases loaded two out jam. Knowing the game could get out of reach, Julie Wright decided to bring in senior pitcher Hannah Dewey to take over. Dewey promptly came in and struck out Michigan’s best hitter, senior outfielder Kelly Christner, to keep the game in reach.

Now trailing 2-1, the Terps could have went down quietly. Megan Betsa was working on another one-hit gem and cruising along, but Maryland was not ready to roll over.

Senior outfielder Sarah Calta, who came back this year from an ACL injury, delivered a clutch two-run triple to help the Terps regain the lead.

“To come out and just be clutch for my teammates when they needed me just made me feel like I was doing my part, so I feel pretty good,” Calta said.

After a scoreless six for both teams, Michigan came to bat three outs away from dropping the series to Maryland. But three walks from Dewey followed by a Kelly Christner RBI single and a Richardson sacrifice fly gave the Wolverine’s a 4-3 advantage.

Megan Betsa would then shut down the Terps in the bottom of the inning to earn her 17th win and a series victory for Michigan.

Even with the series loss, this weekend will not be viewed as a disappointment for Maryland, who challenged one of the top teams in the conference. Julie Wright and company know that this weekend sent a message.

“We can do this. Period.”

Maryland will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to Rutgers for a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.