The Terrapin softball team made sure to bring its bats to Robert E. Taylor Stadium this weekend. Unfortunately for the Terps, they just didn't come out at the right times.
Although the Terps outhit No. 25 Georgia Tech over the three-game series, 12-7, the offense they showed was rather ordinary and far from opportune.
Aside from a Marisha Branson double in Saturday's opener and a home run by outfielder Nikki Maier in the day's second game, all of the Terps' hits were singles. That certainly didn't help the team's runners-left-on-base total, which had reached 20 by the time the Yellow Jackets completed the series sweep.
Coach Laura Watten, fresh off a disappointing three-game losing streak that snapped a 13-game winning streak, said she would nonetheless stay the course.
"I'm in the part of the season where we don't really want to try to move things around too much. I like the things that fit well for our system," Watten said. "It's just a situation where we have to get ourselves back on track, and we got to get back into a place where we feel good."
"I think we've been playing great ball," pitcher Kendra Knight said. "This weekend didn't really reflect it. We just need to tweak here and there, and I think we'll be fine."
For the Terps (22-12, 2-3 ACC) to keep pace in the ACC, in which they were picked to finish fifth this preseason, they'll need to get production from the team's core offensive group. The top of the order, which features outfielders Sara Acosta and Vangie Galindo, produced for the Terps, batting .333 for the weekend and contributing seven walks, three runs scored and only two strikeouts.
But the rest of the offense was unable to build on that performance. The Terps' No. 3 through No. 6 hitters hit a combined .135 (5-for-37) with five walks this weekend while producing only two RBI, striking out 10 times and stranding 16 runners on base.
Particularly glaring was the ineffectiveness of infielder Lexi Carroll, who had emerged during the course of the team's winning streak — the second-longest in program history — as a go-to offensive dynamo. After batting .516 with five home runs and 15 RBI over the 13-game stretch, Carroll went 0-for-7 and left nine runners on base. The sophomore hit four home runs in March 26's doubleheader with Virginia but couldn't provide any sorely needed offense this weekend.
On Sunday, Watten gave credit to Georgia Tech's pitchers, Kristen Adkins, Hope Rush and Lindsey Anderson, for shutting down and confusing the Terps' offense. But she said some of her own players deserved to share the blame.
"We just didn't make the adjustments soon enough on the pitching," Watten said.
dgallen@umdbk.com
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