Maryland (17-21) (4-7 B1G) at Northwestern (23-8) (9-1 B1G)
April 12-14, 2024
Sharon J. Drysdale Field
4:00 PM, 2:00 PM & 12:00 PM
B1G+
COLLEGE PARK, MD - The University of Maryland softball team travels to Northwestern for a weekend series in Evanston, IL. The Terps are set to compete against Northwestern in a three-game series. The action kicks off Friday, April 12 with the first game starting at 4:00 p.m. CST. Saturday's game begins at 2:00 p.m., while the series concludes on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 12:00 CST. All three games between Maryland and Northwestern will be scheduled to be live streamed via BTN and live stats will be available for all two games.
Series Preview
- In the circle, Maryland has been led by Courtney Wyche. Last Friday, Wyche pitched her fourth shutout and 12th complete game of the season. The fifth-year pitcher continued her recent dominance in the circle. Wyche struck out eight batters and allowed just one hit. Wyche currently leads the Big Ten in strikeouts and is ranked third in the country with 154 this season. Wyche is also second in the Big Ten in opposing batter average with hitters just batting a .158 when she is in the circle.
- Diamond Williams has provided instant offense for the Terps. She ranks third in the Big Ten in HRs with 13 only four behind first place. With a .691 slugging percentage Williams is ranked fifth in the Big Ten. Williams is currently hitting .352 with runners in scoring position. Williams is currently sixth in the Big Ten in RBIs with 34. Last Saturday, Williams homered for the Terps. It was her 12th home run of the season, which ranks tied for fourth in program history for a single season.
- As a team the Terps rank second in the conference with triples. Jaeda McFarland is currently first in the conference with triples and ranks second in the country.
- The Northwestern Wildcats are currently 23-8 this season. The Wildcats are set to host the Terps to after starting 9-1 in conference play.
- As a team, the Wildcats have a team batting average of .285 which is ranked 97th in the country. As a team in the circle, Northwestern has a team era of 2.21. The Wildcats averages 1.29 home runs per game which is 17th in the nation. Northwestern is lead by Kansas Robinson who leads the team in hits (44), batting average (.473), home runs (9), and RBI's (27).
- Maryland is currently 2-7 all-time against Northwestern. Maryland would lose their last game in 2021, 4-9 in Evanston, IL.
Maryland has four batters that are hitting above .315 this season.
last weekend's recap
- Maryland would lose two games to Rutgers on Wednesday. Maryland would lose the first game 6-7 and lose game two 9-0 in five innings.
- Last weekend, Maryland softball took game one of its series against Illinois, 8-0, at Maryland Softball Stadium on Friday. Courtney Wyche pitched her fourth shutout and 12th complete game of the season. The fifth-year pitcher continued her recent dominance in the circle. Wyche struck out eight batters and allowed just one hit.
- Maryland scored all of its runs through the first five innings and ended the game by run rule.
- Maryland softball lost a 4-3 decision in game two of its series against Illinois at Maryland Softball Stadium on Saturday.
- Maryland and Illinois traded solo home runs in the first inning and remained tied until the fourth. Diamond Williams homered for the Terps. It was her 12th home run of the season, which ranks tied for fourth in program history for a single season.
- Maryland softball conceded its series against Illinois with a 4-0 loss in a rubber match at Maryland Softball Stadium on Sunday.
- Courtney Wyche provided a strong outing in the circle. She pitched her 13th complete game of the season, which is a season-best for the fifth-year pitcher. Wyche struck out 10 batters and allowed just five hits.
Maryland currently ranks fourth in the conference in stolen bases.
transfer spotlight
- Coastal Carolina transfer Diamond Williams continues to make her impact on this Maryland team. Diamond has started in all 38 games at first base.
- Williams currently is second on the team in batting average (.349). But leads the team in RBI's (34), hits (45), and HRs (13).
- Williams would stand out in her first three Big Ten conference series. She would finish with a .371 batting average with 13 hits including two HR and six RBI's.
- Graduate student Mazie MacFarlane also made her presence known. The right fielder from Utah State missed all of last season with an injury but has provided an immediate impact with her bat and her glove this season. Mazie has started in 35 of the 36 games for the Terps this season. She is currently first on the team in batting average with .350 and is third on the team in hits with 35.
- MacFarlane would finish her first three weekends in Big Ten Conference play hitting .423 with 11 hits and three RBIs. She would also record a HR and two RBI's after her first conference series against Minnesota.
- Against James Madison, MacFarlane would go 2-for-3 with two HRs including a grand slam and 5 RBIs. MacFarlane would tie her career-high RBI mark. This would be the first multi-HR game of her career and her fifth multi-hit game of the season.
In the circle
- Maryland has been led in the circle this season by four players.
- Graduate student Courtney Wyche has been a consistent threat in the circle this year for the Terps. She is currently 10-8 and leads the team with a 2.60 ERA. Wyche also leads the team in strikeouts with 163.
- Against No. 25 Oregon, Wyche had a dominant performance which helped Maryland upset the ranked Ducks. Courtney went the distance for her 37th complete game while allowing just four hits and zero runs to secure the win. It was the 10th shutout of her career and the 37th time in program history that Maryland has defeated a ranked opponent.
- Wyche is currently in fourth place in career strikeouts with 579. She became one of only five players to notch 500 in a career. She is tied for fourth in career wins with 51 only eight wins behind moving into third place. Lastly, she has pitched 567.0 innings in her career, only 12 innings away from moving into fifth place.
- Bri Godfrey joined the Terrapins after playing her freshman season at Marshall. She currently tied for second on the team in wins as she has a 3-6 record after starting in 14 games. Godfrey is fourth on the team in ERA with a 4.65. Against San Diego, Godfrey would pitch six shutout innings only allowing one hit to earn her first win as a Terp. Against Green Bay, Godfrey would pitch five dominant innings only allowing two hits to earn her third win of the season.
- Genevieve Ebaugh has been another strong arm for Maryland. After missing her freshman season due to an injury she picked up her first college win on February 24 against Green Bay. She pitched her first career complete game only allowing one run on three hits and striking out six batters. She currently has the second best ERA on the team with a 3.46 and has only given up 13 earned runs in 26.1 innings.
- Against Lafayette, Ebaugh pitched her second career shutout and three career complete game. She would finish the game allowing just three hits and struck out four batters.
- Freshman Julia Shearer would earn her first win of her college career after pitching 2.2 innings against James Madison.
Opponents are currently hitting just .269 when
Bri Godfrey is in the circle.
national spotlight
- Courtney Wyche had a few record setting performances this season including a historical performance at Penn State.
- Courtney Wyche struck out a career-high 19 batters in Maryland softball's 2-0 upset win over No. 22 Penn State in nine innings at Nittany Lion Softball Park on Friday. Wyche broke the NCAA individual game-high for strikeouts in 2024.
- Wyche struck out a total of 38 batters and allowed 11 hits and three runs through 22.1 innings pitched in the series. Her impressive showing included a 19-strikeout performance in game one on Friday, setting the 2024 NCAA single-game season-high mark.
- Wyche would earn the NCAA National Pitcher of the Week award for her stellar performance against Penn State this would be the first time in her career that Wyche would win this national award.
- Wcyhe would earn Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season for her weekend performance against Penn State. This would be the fourth time in her career that Wyche would win this award.
- Wyche would earn her first Big Ten Pitcher of the Week nomination for her 11 strikeout performance against Boston College. This would be the third time that Wyche won this award.
