The ball was hit right up the middle to Courtney Wyche who calmly fielded it and fired to Sammi Woods standing at second for the out. Woods flipped the ball to first for the double play to seal the win in the second game of Maryland’s double header at Iowa.
Wyche and Trinity Schlotterbeck both turned in strong performances from the circle to help the Terps claim both games, 5-2 and 2-0, in their series opening doubleheader against the Hawkeyes.
Schlotterbeck threw 6.1 innings in the first matchup, only giving up two runs and six hits. She was also a major factor on the offensive side, recording two RBIs, two walks, one hit, and one run scored.
Wyche pitched a dominant complete game in the second contest, only allowing two hits and keeping Iowa scoreless. She attacked the Hawkeye hitters with fastballs and struck out six batters. This was Wyche’s 29th complete game of her career and her seventh this season.
Maryland got the scoring started in the first game when Taylor Liguori executed a sacrifice squeeze bunt in the bottom of the second inning to score Schlotterbeck.
Iowa responded however in the bottom of the second when the Hawkeyes strung three hits together with two outs. This culminated in a Tristin Doster single up the middle to drive Haley Downe home and knot the game back up at 1-1.
The Terps seized control of the game in the third inning when Jaeda McFarland singled with two outs, which was followed by a fielding error from Iowa allowing Kiley Goff to score.
McFarland then scored herself after Sydney Lewis smacked a single and Iowa committed another error. Maryland held a 3-1 lead after three innings.
Schlotterbeck gave herself some run support in the top of the fifth when she grounded out to third, but drove in Goff to increase the lead to 4-1.
Schlotterbeck continued to hold the Hawkeyes’ bats while she also picked up her second RBI in the seventh inning on a single that scored McFarland.
Iowa was able to get one run back in the seventh inning after Sammy Diaz singled and scored Denali Loecker.
However, the Hawkeyes were unable to complete the comeback. The Terps put closer Keira Bucher on in relief, and she recorded her 11th save of the season which leads the country.
Bucher was aided by an athletic leaping snag by second baseman Liguori to secure the final out and help Maryland claim the 5-2 victory.
Maryland once again struck first in the second game in the top of the fourth inning when McFarland lined a ball down the right field line for a triple that drove in Goff.
The Terps doubled the lead in the fifth when Goff smacked a two out single to score Kamryn Davis.
Coach Mark Montgomery elected to leave Wyche in for the entire game and she shut down Iowa to secure the 2-0 win.
