Lewis started all 49 games at first base for Maryland this season, and was the Terps’ top power hitter. The junior batted .310 and hit a career-high 10 home runs this year. 

The move comes after Maryland finished with its worst conference record since joining the Big Ten. The Terps ended conference play 3-19, missing postseason play for the first time in Lewis’ career. 

Lewis is the first Terp to enter the portal and leaves with a year of eligibility.

“I’ve always wanted to be a part of a winning culture, and we just don’t have that culture right now,” Lewis told The Diamondback. “I wanted to be a part of it, but I didn’t realize the longevity of how long it’s going to take, and I just frankly don’t have the time left.”

[Maryland softball still lacks direction after 2 years under Lauren Karn]

Lewis originally committed to Maryland under former head coach Mark Montgomery, who left the program in 2023. In two seasons under coach Lauren Karn, the Terps have suffered a significant regression.

“There’s just so much work to be done, and I fully entrust it with Coach Lauren and her staff,” Lewis said. “It just keeps going back to ‘I don’t have time to help build it.”

The first baseman’s move is a significant blow to Karn’s roster entering her third season. Lewis helped Maryland’s program maintain its heart throughout the tough 2025 season, The Diamondback reported.

Lewis led the Terps’ RBI in the past two seasons, tallying 95 in her career. The three-year offensive standout was Maryland’s designated hitter in her sophomore season before she took over the starting first base spot this season.

The Texas native finished the 2025 season with career bests in batting average, hits and slugging percentage.

“I know that I want to go deeper,” Lewis said. “Making it as far as I can in the postseason, and also being a part of that journey, I am going to go somewhere and make an impact.”

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.

[Sydney Lewis helped Maryland softball keep its heart amid a tough season]

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.

At the center of the team’s spark was first baseman Sydney Lewis. When the junior wasn’t batting in runs at the plate, Lewis was in the dugout, leading the cheering for her team. Lewis has always been the hype person throughout her career, noting she “can’t function” and “won’t play the same” if she’s not.

But it’s hard to have energy when your team is losing.

Coach Lauren Karn said she was waiting for the team that started the season on a high note “to show up” after the Terps picked up their 10th straight loss during an abysmal 20-day stretch from late March to mid-April.

That was a low point for Lewis, who felt she held the solo responsibility to bring her team out of it.

“My coaches tell me all the time that I am the person that people lean onto for my energy,” Lewis said. “When we lose like 10 Big Ten games in a row, it’s like, ‘Well, how on earth am I supposed to keep my energy up?’”

[Maryland baseball clinches key sweep against Minnesota, wins 11-10]

Lewis rose to the challenge. While playing first base, Lewis often ran up to the pitcher’s circle, saying something encouraging to whoever was throwing that day.

Junior Bri Godfrey, who tossed the most innings for the Terps this season, appreciated the notes of “you got this” or “we have your back right here.”

Lewis’ influence grew. The whole team began to approach the circle with her after an out, tossing around the ball before high-fiving their pitcher in the circle and leaving words of their own.

“I tend to remind myself … being that energetic is what makes me happy about this game,” Lewis said. “If I don’t act like that, I’m not going to be the same, and I won’t have any fun.”

Karn said that mindset makes Lewis a good leader, and Karn wants the rest of her team to emulate it.

“She’s worked really hard to get herself to be in that space this year, and it’s paying off,” Karn said. “It’s just not bleeding into others on the team right now, and that’s, I think, part of our issue.”

That connectedness started to falter as the team faced more adversity and players got down on themselves individually. That’s where Lewis’ knowledge of her teammates came in handy.

[Maryland softball’s season ends with 16th straight conference loss, 9-1 to Nebraska]

Lewis tailors her chants on the bench to whoever is up to bat and what they need in that moment, which isn’t always something serious. For veterans like graduate student Mazie MacFarlane, sometimes it’s just telling her that she looks “beautiful.”

“Mazie has been in this game a long time, she doesn’t need to hear, ‘hit the ball hard,’” Lewis said. “Mazie just wants to hear that she’s beautiful, so I’m like, ‘Of course, I’ll tell her that.’”

For underclassmen, it’s often words of advice that help them stay focused on their goal at the plate. That support from Lewis helped freshman Taylor Borovac and other teammates improve their confidence, which they struggled with early on.

Lewis often reminded Borovac to keep her game simple when she got up to the plate. Although Borvac said she didn’t need much, those pep talks reminded her that she was a good player and helped her play loose. And when things didn’t go her way, there were people to support her.

“Us having to rely on each other is one thing that definitely helped a little bit to just be like, ‘OK, things aren’t going our way right now, but we’re gonna push through this,’” Borovac said.

The Terps have a closer bond this season as friends, something that gave them confidence going into the season. Lewis hopes to continue to be a leader for Maryland, playing a big role in getting relationships off the field to transition into trust on the field for a young roster.

“It’s not like we have an issue of energy — it’s just consistently doing it in the mindset when we’re failing, and I think that’s where we’re trying to implement it,” Lewis said.

Keira Bucher threw in relief after Bri Godfrey and Julia Shearer each managed only one inning of work against Nebraska, allowing a combined seven runs. The junior held the Huskers scoreless for 3 ⅓ innings, but Ava Kuszak’s two-run home run mercy-ruled Maryland, 9-1.

It was the 11th time this season the Terps have lost via the mercy-rule and the 16th straight loss they suffered against a conference opponent.

Maryland finished with a -95 run margin against Big Ten foes. It gave up sixteen runs or more in 16 of its 22 conference matchups.

“I’m hoping our team, when they return, doesn’t forget that and forget what this feels like,” coach Lauren Karn said.

Karn’s team regressed in her second season, finishing the year with a 3-19 record in Big Ten play. It’s the program’s worst conference record since 2005 and the team’s lowest win percentage since 2018.

[Maryland softball musters just 1 hit in 6-0 loss to Nebraska]

A 6.69 team ERA during Big Ten play cost Maryland multiple games. Sunday was no different. Nebraska started the game by scoring four runs in the first inning, including a home run by the Huskers’ Jordyn Bahl on the second pitch of the game.

Bri Godfrey, who pitched 3 ⅓ innings, allowing five hits and four runs in the series’ first two matchups, started the contest.

The junior was at one point Maryland’s ace, but dropped off in conference play. Godfrey’s ERA rose from 3.68 at the beginning of the Big Ten slate to over five by the season’s end.

Shearer replaced Godfrey after just one inning, but the sophomore struggled as well, surrendering another three runs on five hits.

The talent disparity in the pitching circle was even more evident when Maryland’s offense took the field. Bahl no-hit the Terps and struck out six batters through four innings.

[Pitching doomed Maryland softball against Penn State despite strong offense]

Maryland didn’t get much from either of its graduating students in their final game. Both Mazie MacFarlane and Sam Bean struck out twice in their final career at bats.

After Nebraska made a pitching change, the Terps’ offense strung together three hits in the fifth inning and scored their lone run of the game. But Bucher’s strong outing ended in disappointment, as Kuszak’s home run ended Maryland’s season.

The final long-ball was the 42nd home run the Terps allowed this season. Karn’s first two seasons haven’t gone according to plan – Maryland’s regressed from its two winning years in 2023 and 2022.

“Going into next year, I just think we need to find a way to want to win a little bit more,” Karn said.

The Terps will miss the Big Ten tournament for the first time since 2021. Sunday’s game was emblematic of most of Maryland’s season — limited offensive production and disappointing pitching performances, ending in a conference series sweep. 

That challenge comes in the form of Jordyn Bahl. The right-hander is holding batters to just a .157 average, the lowest of qualifying pitchers in the Big Ten.

Bahl silenced the Terps’ bats, holding them to just one hit in their 6-0 loss to Nebraska on Friday. The junior threw a complete game and only let the Terps reach base six times at Bowlin Stadium.

After suffering an early season-ending injury in 2024, Bahl has bounced back splendidly this season and leads the Big Ten in strikeouts with 218. The 2023 Big 12 Pitcher of the Year at Oklahoma added two more to that total early, striking out back-to-back Terps (18-29, 3-17 Big Ten) with runners on the corners in the first inning. She ended the outing with nine punchouts.

[Maryland football notebook: Terps’ recent draft success doesn’t match team results]

Maryland’s lone hit came from Mariah Penta, the Terps’ No. 9 batter. The sophomore’s chop-swing dropped the ball between the first and second basemen, allowing Penta to reach safely.

Penta was one of two Terps to not strike out against Bahl. The Terps’ best hitters went down swinging, as Sam Bean struck out twice and MacFarlane once. Maryland felt the absence of one of its best contact hitters, Bailey Murphy, who is still sidelined from an injury.

Maryland’s best chance came when Bahl walked the first two batters in the seventh, advancing the Terps to scoring position for the first time since the first inning. But two putouts and a final strikeout from the pitcher secured Nebraska’s (35-12, 14-5 Big Ten) shutout win.

Bahl caught Maryland’s bats looking on four of her nine strikeouts. She also assisted on four putouts.

[No. 3 Maryland men’s lacrosse advances to Big Ten title, defeats No. 7 Penn State 10-8]

On the flip side, Maryland starter Julia Shearer only struck out one batter in five innings. The sophomore has become the Terps’ ace late in the season but couldn’t control Nebraska’s bats, allowing 12 hits and six runs across five innings.

Maryland’s defense backed up its starter with no errors, helping to avoid a mercy rule loss. The Terps’ best outfielder, Mazie MacFarlane, robbed Ava Bredwell of a home run in the fifth.

Bahl, batting leadoff for Nebraska, was just as deadly on offense. She crushed three hits and rocketed her 18th home run of the season over the left field fence in the sixth inning to take a 5-0 lead. The two-way starter was named one of 25 finalists for the 2025 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award on Wednesday.

Bahl has thrown in at least two games of every Big Ten series. Her workload is unlikely to slow down as Nebraska fights to stay in the Big Ten’s top four and earn a bye in the conference tournament. The Terps are already statistically eliminated from postseason play.

But Maryland still couldn’t pull a single win, dropping its fourth straight Big Ten series. The Terps (17-28, 3-16 Big Ten) have finally hit their offensive stride, but their pitching rotation has dismantled in the process.

The Terps used every pitcher in their rotation throughout the weekend — including junior Genevieve Ebaugh, who entered the game with fewer than 10 innings this season after an early injury. Ebaugh stepped into the circle Sunday for the first time in more than a month, still sporting a brace on her left knee.

Maryland’s game three matchup appeared to be over before the Terps ever got up to bat. The Nittany Lions put up a combined seven runs against Ebaugh and freshman Aubrey Wurst in the first inning — just one run short of run-rule territory.

[Malik Washington, a surprise QB steal the show at Maryland football’s spring game]

“We’re not pitching well,” coach Lauren Karn said. “We haven’t pitched well all weekend.”

Maryland scored four in the bottom half of the first inning and continued to slowly climb back, putting up a run in four of the next six frames. But a three-run homer from Penn State — its second of the game — in the sixth killed any real comeback hopes.

“When you don’t control the game on the defensive side, whether it be pitching or playing defense, it’s really hard to just keep getting back into it,” Karn said.

Karn focuses on her players keeping their energy strong when they go down. The Terps embodied that on Friday as they loaded bases in the sixth, down eight runs. But a double play on graduate student Mazie MacFarlane ended the comeback attempt.

The play didn’t faze MacFarlane, as the hitter came back strong the rest of the series. She excelled in the second and third games with five total hits, including two home runs on Saturday.

“We’ve been working really hard at practice [on] just one pitch at a time … and then going from there,” MacFarlane said. “I think that takes a lot of the pressure off.”

[Maryland women’s lacrosse falters late in Big Ten championship, falls 8-7 to Northwestern]

MacFarlane has also studied previous hitting opponents with her teammates, such as UCLA’s Megan Grant, to sharpen her power hitting in the season’s final games.

“[Grant] hits the crap out of the ball all the time,” MacFarlane said. “We were trying to do all of her things that she does.”

Maryland players stepped up across the lineup, especially in the bottom of the order. Eight of Maryland’s hits from the weekend came from batters in spots seven through nine, including six hits from Julia Shearer.

But how well the Terps swing the bat does not matter if their pitchers can’t throw to Big Ten batters. The rotation is averaging more than seven earned runs a game in conference play and ranks third in the Big Ten for walks.

The weakness was especially exposed Sunday, when Maryland awarded Penn State 16 free passes. Two of the Nittany Lions’ 12 runs were walked home and another two advanced on wild pitches.

The remaining eight were all scored off home runs. Penn State only had four hits in the matchup.

Each pitcher allowed at least four earned runs in the weekend series. The Terps are tied for last in the Big Ten standings with little hope of making the conference tournament as Karn continues to shuffle the mix in the circle, looking for any sign of consistency.

“We know each weekend, we’re probably gonna have to throw as many of our pitchers as we can to stretch out wins right now, and so we’re just trying to find that good combo again,” Karn said.

Matched against the highest ERA in the Big Ten, the Terps had the potential to keep that streak going against Penn State. But Maryland couldn’t find a hit against Mady Volpe until the third inning and tallied just three in a 10-2, six inning loss to Penn State at home. 

The Terps’ 279 hits this season ranked second-to-last across the conference. Their best hitter, Sydney Lewis, called the series matchup against Penn State “very winnable” for her squad. But Maryland (17-25, 3-14 Big Ten) lacked help from the hitter, who struck out twice against Volpe. The junior is one of just two Terps still batting at .300 or above.

Maryland’s first run was assisted by two walks in the first from Volpe, who leads the Big Ten in walks. But the senior paired that with five strikeouts on the Terps through five innings. 

[Aubrey Wurst continues to shine in Maryland softball’s 11-1 win over Delaware]

“She did a really nice job at keeping the ball low, commanding the zone low and the umpire was calling strikes low in the zone,” coach Lauren Karn said. “It was a good mashup for her and we just weren’t adjusting on that pitch.”

Shortstop Sammi Woods was the only Terp to find consistent contact on Volpe, tallying two of the hits. The junior put up the knocked her third home run of the season over left field in the third inning to break the Terps’ scoring drought. 

Left-hander Julia Shearer got the third hit of the game. But Volpe, the sophomore’s former high school teammate, turned a double play on the sophomore at first base. 

Shearer also got the start against Penn State (21-24, 7-10 Big Ten) for Maryland’s pitching squad. The Terps’ rotation ERA is only three spots higher than the Nittany Lions. 

The sophomore tossed four innings — allowing five hits and four earned runs, including a homer. Maryland used three different pitchers in an attempt to slow the Nittany Lions down. 

[Lauren Karn, Sydney Lewis hope Maryland softball improves mindset amid tough season]

Volpe is allowing 6.93 earned runs a game in the circle this season, but the Terps only managed to cross home plate twice. No matter who Maryland is facing in the circle, its offense has consistently been outmatched by the opponent. 

The hitting woes stem from a lack of power. The Terps are slugging .398 compared to their opponents’ .438 average. Eight of Penn State’s nine hits were multi-base shots. 

The Terps’ best chance to score came with bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, already down an out in mercy rule territory. Catcher Sam Bean flied out to shallow center field and the Nittany Lions picked off center fielder Mazie MacFarlane at home, ending the matchup. 

Despite the loss, Karn surprisingly said she was pleased with her team’s production at the end and the quality of their at bats against Volpe.

“I mean we’re in that game right there at the end,” Karn said. “I think if we take those things into tomorrow, we pitch better, we play better defense, I think the score is going to look different.”

Things started out rocky for Wurst on Wednesday. Delaware’s leadoff batter nearly went yard on the right-hander’s third pitch, just missing the top of the fence. A walk and another hit gave Delaware an early lead with just one out.

Then Wurst settled down, retiring seven straight batters and not allowing another run. Wurst’s strong outing pushed Maryland to an 11-1 mercy rule win at Delaware Softball Stadium.

Wurst, who struck out a season-high 10 batters in her previous matchup, only fanned two against Delaware (31-14). Instead, she let the Blue Hens swing while trusting her defense with the putouts behind her.

[Lauren Karn, Sydney Lewis hope Maryland softball improves mindset amid tough season]

The Terps (17-25) backed their pitcher up in the batter’s box, scoring 11 runs on nine hits. Sam Bean rocketed her seventh homer of the season and Lewis picked up another three RBIs, increasing her total to 33. Maryland was aggressive on the base paths as well, taking advantage of Delaware’s three errors.

After scoring two runs to start the third, the Blue Hens made a pitching change to Josie Crossman. But Maryland kept finding gaps in the infield, adding another two in the inning from fielder’s choices.

Lewis’ third RBI in the fifth inning with the bases loaded earned Maryland its ninth run, putting the game in run-rule territory. Maryland added another two runs from there, and Delaware had no response when Wurst returned to the circle.

[Maryland women’s lacrosse avenges last season’s upset with 17-11 win over Rutgers]

Coach Lauren Karn figured Wurst may have an “up and down” year as the freshman learned to trust herself at a higher level. The Florida native has lasted two innings or less in three of her past eight starts.

But Karn kept Wurst in for the entire game on Wednesday, even when her stamina faltered in the final two innings and she walked two batters.

Wurst rewarded her coach, pushing through to one final putout and completing the season sweep for Maryland. Her 3.68 ERA now ranks best across the Maryland pitching staff.

Conference play continues for the Terps on Friday against Penn State — their final home series of the season. Only 1 ⅔ of Wurst’s 45 ⅔ innings this season have come in Big Ten matchups, as junior Keira Bucher has stepped into an unexpected starting role. But Wurst’s performances of late have shown promise as her freshman season winds down.

The Terps recorded 19 hits against Maryland Eastern Shore on Tuesday in their first double-digit hit performance since March 22. They also put up 19 runs, the most the program has scored since 2015.

“I think that’s really cool and something to build off of, obviously, coming off of a tough stretch for us,” coach Lauren Karn said. 

The Terps had lost their previous 10 games before the Hawks matchup, dropping their win percentage from .500 to .375. Their issues have largely been due to poor hitting, as only three of Maryland’s starters are batting .300 or above.

Karn said that the team discussed resiliency before a recent game, going over different ways that this team has been resilient throughout the season. She noted that this has really been tested lately due to the team’s struggles, and that a group can start to feel less connected when they face adversity.

“Right now, I think it’s easy to feel down on ourselves individually, and then also be looking for someone else to do the job that you’re not feeling like you can do,” Karn said.

[Maryland softball snaps 10-game skid with 19-0 mercy-rule win over Maryland Eastern Shore]

Maryland struck out 54 times during the losing streak while only recording 34 hits. Eight of those were from first baseman Sydney Lewis.

Lewis has been the Terps’ most reliable hitter, leading the team in RBIs, hits and home runs. The junior tallied at least one hit in every game of the Iowa series, arguably Maryland’s lowest morale point of the season. 

“I have a really big role this year of scoring runs,” Lewis said. “I’ve always kind of been in a spot for that, and I think I’ve been executing that from a pretty good standpoint.”

Lewis has taken on a leadership role in keeping Maryland’s hitters in the right mindset at the plate. She tries to remind her teammates that they don’t need to hit a home run every time they’re at bat, and that sometimes it’s just about hitting the ball hard and hoping that luck is on your side.

Her success is a testament to her self-confidence, Lewis said, despite the team’s recent losing skid.

“I try to keep it really simple in terms of goals and what we’re wanting out of at-bats,” Lewis said. “I hope we can apply what we’ve been talking about these past few weeks and put them into these upcoming games and create some momentum.”

[Maryland softball suffers third straight series sweep in 7-2 loss to Iowa]

Karn hopes that the other batters are able to adopt this mindset, noting that she doesn’t want her starters to feel like they have to “carry the weight of the team” in a single at-bat.

Maryland is on a seven-day break before returning to action next week. The Terps will play Delaware on Wednesday, followed by Penn State for their last home series — both matchups that Lewis called “very winnable.”  

The Nittany Lions’ pitching rotation has the worst ERA in the Big Ten, and the Maryland Eastern Shore game showed there’s still life in Maryland’s bats. 

The Terps still have to jump three spots to sneak into the Big Ten tournament, which they haven’t missed since the 2021 season.

“We can put balls in play hard, we can get runners on base, we can be aggressive base running,” Karn said. “What’s at stake is getting into the Big Ten tournament.”

The Terps desperately needed to get back in the win column on Tuesday, reeling off ten straight losses and three series sweep. The Hawks, meanwhile, entered College Park with the lowest RPI in college baseball — exactly 200 spots higher than Maryland’s ranking at No. 109. 

Maryland took full advantage, scoring a season-high 19 runs in a dominant 19-0 mercy rule in five innings. It was the most runs the Terps scored since the 2015 season. 

During the losing streak, Maryland (16-25, 3-13 Big Ten) had averaged only 2.1 runs per game and scoring one run or fewer in six of those contests. The Terps’ reserve hitters accounted for seven of their 19 hits against the Hawks (3-31, 2-12 MEAC), an encouraging sign of future depth as the roster only has three batters over .300. 

While most of the match looked like batting practice, both teams went down in order in the first inning. Second baseman Madison Runyan broke the statement with a single in the second, and catcher Sam Bean followed with a home run to center.

[Maryland softball suffers third straight series sweep in 7-2 loss to Iowa]

Maryland added seven hits and seven runs the next frame, blowing the game open with a ten-run advantage. 

The Terps switched the batting over to their reserves in the fourth, where the damage continued. Maryland scored another 10 runs and 11 hits. Freshman Gracie Wilson and junior Gracelyn Solarz both tallied their first career hits. 

Right fielder Julia Shearer led Maryland with four runs batted in during the matchup, bringing her season total to 10. 

The Hawks threw freshman Kassidy Oneail and sophomore Paris Richards, who allowed eight and 11 runs, respectively. Every pitcher on Maryland Eastern Shore’s roster averages an ERA over eight.

The Hawks offense squared up just a single hit in the matchup against freshman Aubrey Wurst. The freshman got her first start in the circle since March 18 against Colgate. She returned in solid form, striking out the first five batters she faced. 

[Maryland softball’s offense stalls in doubleheader losses to Iowa, 6-1 and 9-0]

“My screwball was really working today,” Wurst said. “[I] just go all out on every single pitch.”

Wurst faced struggles in the fifth when she loaded the bases with no outs. But the right-hander worked out of the jam, retiring the next three batters and throwing her 10th and 11th strikeouts of the evening, a new career high. 

The Terps only struck out twice against the Hawks, both from outfielder Mazie MacFarlane. The Terps won’t play again for another eight days, but will still have plenty of work to do on their hitting during that time. Maryland has scored the second fewest runs in the Big Ten and have the third worst batting average. 

The Terps return to Big Ten play against Penn State on April 25. Maryland have the chance to prove their hitting stunt is a permanent change as the Nittany Lions boast the second-worst team pitching ERA in the Big Ten.