RIVERSIDE, Calif. – After dropping the first game of the day against Portland State in an offensive explosion, the Terps put together an impressive seventh-inning rally to take down tournament host UC Riverside after spending the majority of the game down 3-0.
Game 1 – Box Score
Portland State and Maryland combined for 28 hits and 21 runs on the day in a game that was back-and-forth throughout the entirety of the game. Sami Main got the start in the circle to open up the Amy S. Harrison Classic, which was delayed 30 minutes due to rain the day before.
The Vikings got on the board first, scoring three in the first inning. Maryland responded in the second inning however, and got two back on a Bailey Boyd RBI-single which plated Sammie Stefan, then Regan Kerr sent home Shelby Younkin to cut the lead to 3-2.
Portland State scored two more runs in the third to make it 5-2, and a quiet third inning by both teams kept the score the same heading into the fifth.
The Vikings offense was uncorked again in the top of the fifth, as they scored four runs on three hits and forced a pitching change for the Terps as Victoria Galvan replaced Main in the circle.
Maryland still put up a fight, starting to claw back by scoring four runs in an immediate response in the bottom of the inning. Amanda Brashear sent in two runners with a 2-RBI double, Anna Kufta plated Brashear on a sacrifice fly, and Sammie Stefan hit an RBI-single which scored Gracie Voulgaris.
In the top of the sixth, Portland State piled on another three runs to stretch their lead to 12-6, but Maryland again had an answer and scored two runs. Kufta and Voulgaris hit back-to-back RBI singles.
Portland State added an insurance run in the top of the seventh, and the Terps weren't able to come back, falling 13-8.
Game 2 – Box Score
What looked like a pitcher's duel for the majority of the game quickly turned in an astonishing rally for the Terps in their second game of the afternoon against the hosts. Down 3-0 until the seventh and struggling against UC Riverside's Jacy Boles, Maryland's offense exploded in the top of the seventh in a last-ditch effort to beat the Highlanders.
Sydney Golden got the start in her hometown and pitched a solid seven innings, limiting Riverside to seven hits and three runs, and striking out three batters.
While Maryland's offense was stagnant for the majority of the game, Riverside got on the board first, launching a solo homer in the bottom of the second. They'd extend their lead in the bottom of the fourth, sending a couple runners to the plate on a RBI-single.
The Terps couldn't get anything going off Boles throughout the entire game up until the do-or-die seventh inning. After loading the bases with no outs, Brashear knocked in the first run, Okada sent another home, and a bases-loaded walk for Caitlyn Koenig tied the game up at 3 apiece.
Voulgaris then sent two runners home with one out in the inning after grounding one that the third baseman fumbled, Stefan hit a two-RBI single to stretch the lead to 7-3, and Bailey Boyd hit a RBI-single to make it 8-3, Terps. Despite hitting a double in the bottom of the seventh, UC Riverside wasn't able to respond and Maryland got their seventh win of the season.
The Terps play UNLV (10-1) and UC Riverside (3-8) tomorrow for the second day of the Amy S. Harrison Classic.
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