COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Senior Candice Beards went 4-for-7 with five RBIs and four runs to lead the Maryland softball team to a two-game sweep of Howard Wednesday night at the Maryland Softball Stadium.
Maryland returns to action this weekend as it travels to South Bend, Ind. for a pivotal ACC series against No. 21 Notre Dame. The Terps are 0-5 all-time against the Irish, including a 5-3 loss last season. Monday's game will be featured on ESPNU.
Game One: Maryland 15, Howard 0
Beards went 2-for-4 with four RBIs and Amanda McCann scored three runs as Maryland powered past Howard, 15-0, in game one Wednesday.
Maryland jumped on the visiting Bison from the get-go, as McCann kicked off a six-run first inning with a leadoff walk. After Kylie Datil followed with a walk of her own, Beards cleared the bases with an opposite field double to right center. Madison Martin then crushed her first career home run over the left field fence to double the Terrapin lead, 4-0.
The Terps added two more runs in the first after Jessica Warner's flyout was dropped in the field and an RBI double by Corey Schwartz.
After another scoreless inning for Howard in the second, Datil gave the Terps a 7-0 advantage with a solo home run over the left field fence.
The damage continued in the third inning as Maryland opened the game wide open by scoring seven runs to take a 14-0 lead. McCann started the scoring with a two-run double to center field, followed by another two-run double from Shannon Bustillos. Beards then knocked in Bustillos with a single up the middle, before Juli Strange tallied the third double of the inning to score Martin.
Beards capped the scoring in the fourth inning by earning a bases loaded walk that allowed McCann to trot home for the score.
Kaitlyn Schmeiser (2.0 IP) and Brenna Nation (3.0 IP) combined for the five-inning shutout in the circle, allowing just four hits in the effort.
Game Two: Maryland 10, Howard 4
Martin did it all for the Terps in the nightcap, pitching a complete game and knocking in a pair of runs to lead Maryland to a 10-4 victory over Howard.
Freshman Hannah Dewey went 3-for-4 with a run in the effort, while Bustillos extended her season-best hit streak to eight games.
After Martin made quick work of the Bison in the first two innings, the Terrapin bats awoke in the bottom of the second with five runs on four hits. Dewey started the outburst with a double, before Schwartz smashed a two-run triple up the middle.
The inning continued as the Bison defense struggled, coughing up a pair of errors that allowed three more runs to eventually score and give the Terps a 5-0 lead.
The Howard bats showed some muscle in the fourth inning, however, as Imani Ballard knocked an opposite field homer over the right field fence. Not to be outdone, Ashley Turner belted a three-run shot to pull the Bison within one, 5-4.
Undaunted by the Howard comeback, Beards answered by doubling to left in the fifth inning and quickly scoring on a Martin single. Juli Strange then knocked in the pinch-runner Sarah Calta with a sacrifice fly to put Maryland up, 7-4.
The Terps then put the game out of reach with a three-spot in the sixth, sparked by a Beards RBI single and another Martin RBI.
-Maryland-
