The Jackets softball team dropped two of three against the Maryland Terrapins at Mewborn Field this past weekend. The teams split a doubleheader on Saturday, with Maryland winning the first game 8-6 and the Jackets taking the second by a score of 5-4. The Terrapins then took the rubber match on Sunday with a 14-5 five-inning game. Following the series, Tech’s record stood at 19-24 (6-6 ACC) with nine conference games remaining, while Maryland improved to 23-22 (7-5 ACC). Tech is now fifth in the ACC standings and Maryland is in third.
Hope Rush started Game 1 on the mound for the Jackets and nearly pitched the whole game before being taken out with one out to go. She allowed 10 hits in 6.2 innings of work and gave up seven runs, though just three of them were earned. Each team committed four errors, accounting for a combined six unearned runs in the game.
Ashley Thomas scored in the first inning for Tech, but the Terps responded in the third with two runs of their own. The Jackets went back on top in the fifth with back to back RBI singles by Morgan Taylor and Katie Johnsky. But the Terps responded again with three runs in the sixth, adding on two more in the seventh inning to tale the game 8-6.
Outfielder Morgan Taylor finished the game 2-3 with two RBIs and a strikeout. Leadoff hitter Ashley Thomas addend an RBI as she went 1-4 and also scored two runs.
Game 2 was a more sound game for Tech as they committed no errors (down from four) en route to a 5-4 victory. Kylie Kleinschmidt pitched a complete game, giving up four hits, four runs, and seven walks while striking out two.
It was a close game all the way through, with neither team taking a lead of more than two runs. Thomas once again scored in the first inning to give Tech an early lead, finishing the game batting 2-2 with an RBI. A wild pitch and sacrifice fly brought home two runs for the Terrapins in the fourth, but Tech took the lead again off of Thomas’s RBI single. Mayrland took a 4-3 lead in the fifth off a leadoff home run and sac fly.
The Jackets won the game due to two runs in the sixth. The first was scored when Alysha Rudnik was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to tie it, followed by a groundout to bring home the eventual winning run.
The Jackets were run-ruled in the final game of the series, but still managed to produce some highlights. Johnsky launched a three run homer in the first inning to tie the game, and Caitlyn Coffee belted a solo shot in the fourth. Tech entered the fifth inning down 7-5, and the game was still winnable at that point. However, the Terrapins exploded for seven runs (including two homers) in the top of the inning, taking a large enough lead to end the game early by a score of 14-5.
The Jackets took the field again on Thursday after press time for a doubleheader against Southern Mississippi. They will follow that with a three-game stint at UNC against the conference-foe Tar Heels, who are currently in second place in the ACC with a conference record of 10-5 (33-15 overall).