Maryland softball’s final game of the series against Indiana was its best of the weekend. The top of Maryland’s lineup came out swinging, hitting an impressive .571.

But the high batting average was not enough to score runs, though, as the Terps left seven runners on base. After plating a pair in the first inning, Maryland failed to produce any offense in the final six frames.

Indiana’s high-powered offense couldn’t be denied, scoring three runs in the fifth inning to take a commanding lead they would not relinquish. The Hoosiers completed the series sweep with a 7-2 victory on Sunday. 

Indiana may have finished with seven runs, but Maryland’s defense held its own for most of the game. 

Similar to Friday’s game, Caitlin Olensky started on the mound for the Terps. In eerily similar fashion to her last performance, she pitched incredibly well. 

Olensky held a strong Hoosiers’ offense to only one run through four innings, giving up two hits and striking out four batters. 

However, that all changed in the fifth inning. 

Olensky lost her mojo in the frame. She gave up three doubles and walked a batter, allowing three runs to come home. 

“Today she was feeling good after the fourth, which we’re checking in on, and feeling like she had command,” head coach Lauren Karn said. “In the fifth, obviously showed that she didn’t have the command that she thought she had.”

The offense’s inability to plate runners in scoring position meant that those three runs were too much to match. 

They left seven runners on base, including striking out at the end of innings twice, leaving five potential runs on base.

“We’re not running the bases very well, and we’re running ourselves out of some innings,” Karn said. “So when the situational hitting is happening, we’re not taking the extra bags that we can, we’re not getting the reads that we should be getting.”

Although Maryland also notched two runs on Saturday, it was clear from the start of the game that the team lacked an offensive spark. 

Sunday was drastically different. The team slashed .310, compared to its .250 in the other two games this series. 

After Mariah Penta crushed a double in her first at-bat of the day, a two-run home run from Anna McGowan in the bottom of the first inning set the tone for the game. 

The run total may have been low, but the top of the Maryland batting order was on fire. 

Penta had an incredible first two games of the series, batting .500 — double the team average in that span. She continued her fantastic performance on Sunday, going 3-for-4 and crossing home as part of the Terps’ two-run first inning. 

“Mariah has been very consistent, and we’re wanting that to bleed into others,” Karn said.

Her outstanding performance definitely bled into others on Sunday. 

McGowan, who was the best statistical batter on the team before conference play, launched the two-run bomb in the first frame to open the scoring. She went 2-for-4 on the day, and her two RBIs were her best of the weekend. 

Matti Benson also put together one of her better performances this season, hitting a perfect 2-for-2. Unfortunately for her and the Terps, only one batter behind her managed a single hit, and that did not result in a run. 

Pitchers Elisea Wiegand and Aubrey Wurst came into the game after Olenky’s fifth-inning issues. 

Wiegand gave up three runs in her two innings pitched, and Wurst did not allow a run on the day.