By Eddie Hobbs
Maryland played their first official game in the Maryland Invitational after their first scheduled game against Buffalo was cancelled on Friday March 17th. The Terps won the game off of Anna Kufta’s walk off double to drive in Juli Strange in front of a heavy Maryland crowd.
Throughout the contest Maryland was able to control the lead with Madison Martin’s pitching. Martin only allowed two hits and four runs through seven innings pitched, it was one of her strongest outings of the season. Martin now has a 3-5 record this season with a 3.13 ERA. Head Coach Julie Wright talked about her performance so far this season.
“She’s mastered her vertical zone, so she can go up and she can go down, of course we all know about her changeup,” Wright said. “Plus she’s been health, this is the first time she’s been healthy in three years.”
Kristina Dillard started the game off with a bang as she blasted a ball over the left field wall to give the Terps the early 1-0 lead in the second inning. It was hit so far it might have rolled onto University Boulevard, halting all traffic. In the third inning, Juli Strange launched the ball in the left field gap. Strange would eventually end up at third because of a misplayed ball by the catcher. Anna Kufta brought Strange home with a line drive shot to center field, 2-0 Terps.
Dillard wasn’t just hitting the ball well, she was also playing great defense. With Binghamton outfielder Gabby Bracchi on first, Dillard noticed Bracchi was too far from the bag. Dillard cannoned a ball down to the first baseman Brigette Nordberg, who promptly tagged Bracchi out.
Dillard couldn’t totally mask the Terps woes on defense as Maryland committed six errors throughout the game. Three of them coming in the sixth inning which helped Binghamton gain two runs to push its lead to 4-3. Coach Wright talked about the errors on the day.
“We did have six errors, but I like the way we jelled, I think they are still getting comfortable in their spots,” Wright said. “Kufta has never played short, Sky (Ellazar) has never played second base in college.”
There were a few questionable calls from the first base umpire in the sixth inning. This lead to Maryland head coach Julie Wright coming out of the dug out to have a few words with the ump. Coach Wright, jokingly said, “We couldn’t control any of that, so we just focused on the things we could.”
Maryland racked up 12 hits throughout the game, but none were bigger than Anna Kufta’s walk off double in the seventh inning to seal the victory for Maryland.
