Maryland softball continued its pitiful showings in conference play throughout the first two games against Indiana. 

Four different Terp pitchers gave up at least two runs in just two games, including four or more runs allowed from Keira Bucher and Elisea Wiegand, who have not done well against the Big Ten. 

The Terps actually held a four-run lead in the opening game of the series. Still, a defensive meltdown led to an 8-5 defeat after Maryland surrendered eight runs in three innings.

On Saturday, the defensive meltdown came much earlier, and the offense didn’t help. 

In Friday’s game, although Maryland scored four unanswered runs over the first four innings, the defense fell apart in the top of the fifth. 

Pitcher Caitlin Olensky allowed three runs to the extremely strong Hoosier offense, which is hitting .371 on the season. 

On Saturday, Maryland managed two runs in what some would call garbage time, boosting their average to .250, but it did not matter, as they suffered a 10-2 loss.

After posting a .250 average on Friday, the Terps offense saved itself from a brutal performance on the stat sheet on Saturday. Coming into the fifth and final inning, Maryland held a .176 batting average, without a single run. 

As for pitching on Saturday, Wiegand continued to add to her 51 innings pitched, but she only managed 1 2/3 innings before losing command of the ball, giving up five runs in the second inning. 

She managed to put batters in six full count situations in the second, but Maryland’s most active pitcher could not manage to figure out the final strike against the loaded Hoosier offense. 

Wiegand gave up four walks in the first six batters she faced, and when Maryland finally subbed her out for Aurbey Wurst, Indiana had loaded the bases. Alex Cooper crushed Wurst’s first pitch, making the game 6-0. 

Wurst allowed another home run in the third inning, which made the game 7-0.

Although it was a sharp drop from the 11 runs they managed against George Washington on Tuesday, the Terps’ five runs on Friday matched their highest run output in conference play.

Their .250 average in the game was higher than their .203 average against conference opponents, but they didn’t get much help from the top of the order. 

Batters one, two and three went a combined 2/11 on Friday, a sub-.200 average. The Terps still managed five runs without much help from those batters, which contrasts with their performance in their second game of the weekend.

In a worse offensive showing, Bailey Murphy, Mariah Penta, and Anna McGowan averaged .500. 

They go into the final game of the series a combined 6-of-18, with the rest of the team holding a 0.192 average. 

The last time Maryland scored five runs in conference play was in its opener against Rutgers, and much of that offensive production stemmed from fielding errors by the opposing defense. On Friday, the Terps were the ones giving up the runs to errors, as the Hoosiers scored three runs as a direct result of Maryland’s errors and wild pitches. 

To total Saturday’s runs allowed, Wiegand gave up five runs in the game, and Wurst allowed another two on the day. 

Keira Bucher came into the game in the fifth inning and surrendered one run; she gave up four runs on Friday. 

Indiana added another run-rule victory to their season total, making it 14 on the season.