Maryland (18-24) (4-10 B1G) at Ohio State (24-17) (5-9 BIG)
Buckeye Field
April 19-21, 2024
6:00 PM, 2:00 PM, 1:00 PM
BTN+
COLLEGE PARK, MD - The University of Maryland softball team will travel to Columbus, Ohio to play the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Terps are set to compete against Ohio State in a weekend series spanning three games. The action kicks off Friday, April 19 with the first game starting at 6:00 p.m. Saturday's game begins at 2:00 p.m., while the series concludes on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m. All three games between Maryland and Ohio State will be scheduled to be live streamed via BTN+ and live stats will be available for all three games.
Match up preview
- Ohio State is 24-17 this season. They have a team batting average of .305 which ranks 50th in the country. In the circle, the Buckeyes have a team ERA of 4.03. As a team, Ohio State averages 1.20 home runs per game which is 23rd in the country.
- At the plate, they are led by Tegan Cortelletti who leads the team with a .418 batting average and hits (51). Kami Kortokrax also plays a key role in the offense for Ohio State as she leads the team in RBI's with 33 and HR's with 8. In the circle, the Buckeyes are led by Alisson Smith who has a 2.62 ERA and is currently 14-9 this season.
- Maryland will head to Ohio State after defeating UMBC 14-1 in five innings on Wednesday. The Terps are 18-24 this season. As a team they have a batting average of .275. In the circle, as a team the Terps have a 3.76 ERA.
- In the circle, Maryland is led by Courtney Wyche who is 10-10 this season with a 2.88 ERA. Wyche leads the team in innings pitched with 129 and strikeouts with 174. Currently, Wyche is fourth in the NCAA in strikeouts and she ranks first in the Big Ten in batters struck out. Wyche is third in the Big Ten in innings pitched and ranks second in opposing batting average with hitters just batting .170.
- At the plate, Maryland is led by Diamond Williams and Jaeda McFarland. McFarland currently leads the team in batting average (.355), stolen bases (16) and hits (49). With six triples this year McFarland is second in the NCAA and first in the Big Ten for most this season. Her 16 stolen bases and 34 runs rank fourth and 10th respectively in the conference. Diamond Williams is currently batting .338 this season and her 13 home runs on the season led the team. This season, Williams 13 home runs rank fourth in the conference and her .672 slugging percentage ranks seventh in the Big Ten.
- Maryland is currently 3-19 all-time against Ohio State with their last meeting coming in 2022. The Terps would lose to Ohio State 6-0.
The Terps are looking to rebound this week after going 0-3 this weekend at Northwestern.
last weekend's recap
- Maryland run ruled UMBC, 14-1, at Maryland Softball Stadium on Wednesday. The Terps scored 10 of their runs in the third inning and finished with a season-high for runs scored.
- Delaney Reefe and Mazie MacFarlane each finished with a game-high three RBI's. Reefe recorded a single and a double in the third inning, going 2-for-3 and adding a run. MacFarlane went 2-for-4 and added two runs. Jaeda McFarland supplied two RBI's and Michaela Jones went 3-for-3 with two runs.
- Bri Godfrey pitched her second complete game of the season and allowed just one hit and one earned run. She struck out four batters and even drew an RBI walk for her first RBI in a Maryland uniform. Bailey Murphy and Julia Shearer notched their first hits as Terps. Shearer also notched her first RBI.
- Maryland is coming off a 0-3 weekend against Northwestern in Illinois. Maryland would lose game one 5-4 on Friday. On Saturday, the Terps would drop game two 12-1 in five innings and Sunday, Northwestern would defeat Maryland 2-1.
- On Friday, Maryland would drop game one despite having a late game surge. An RBI double by Diamond Williams and an RBI single by Sydney Lewis in the sixth cut the Northwestern lead in half. Jaeda McFarland hit an RBI triple and Maryland scored another run on a scoring error in the seventh. But the late comeback effort was unsuccessful as Ashley Miller finished her dominant outing in the circle with a complete game.
- McFarland went 2-for-4 and added a double and two runs scored. Her triple added to her career program record and she now has 19 to her name. Williams finished with a team-high two RBI's.
- On Saturday, Maryland would fall to Northwestern 12-1 in game two. Despite getting on the board first on a Sydney Lewis RBI single, the Terps couldn't keep up with Northwestern's power hitting. The Wildcats hit four home runs in the game, with nine of their 12 runs coming from homers.
- On Sunday, Maryland would narrowly lose game three of the series, 2-1. Courtney Wyche made her second appearance of the series in the circle. The fifth-year pitcher kept the Terps in the game by stranding 10 Wildcats on base and regularly working out of tight jams. She pitched her 15th complete game of the season and struck out nine batters while allowing just two hits.
The Terps have three batters that have 10 or more RBI's in conference play this season.
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 third on the team in batting average (.338) and second in hits (47). But leads the team in RBI's (37) and HRs (13). Williams is fourth in the Big Ten in home runs this year.
- Williams would stand out in her first four Big Ten conference series. She would finish with a .327 batting average with 16 hits including three HRs and ten 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 40 of the 41 games for the Terps this season. She is currently second on the team in batting average with .352 and is third on the team in hits with 38.
- MacFarlane would finish her first four weekends in Big Ten Conference play hitting .389 with 14 hits and three RBIs. She would also record a HR and two RBI's after her first conference series against Minnesota.
- This season MacFarlane, is ninth in the Big Ten in on-base percentage with a .466.
- 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.
moving up the record books
- With a stolen base against Virginia, senior outfielder Megan Mikami has become the all-time program leader in stolen bases in a career with 74. The record was previously held by Vangie Galindo (2009-2012). Mikami has led the Big Ten in stolen bases in back-to-back years.
- Jaeda McFarland is currently tied third all-time in career batting average with .337 and currently has the school record for most career triples with 19. McFarland is also second in school history in stolen bases with (68).
- Graduate student Courtney Wyche is currently in fourth place in career strikeouts with 599. She is one strikeout away from becoming one of our four players to notch 600 strikeouts in a career. She is fourth in career wins with 51 only 8 wins behind moving into third place. Lastly, she has pitched 582.0 innings in her career passing Kaitlyn Schmeiser (2012-2015) who pitched 578.2 innings.
- Freshman Keira Bucher led the country in saves last year with 12, the most ever in program history. After her freshman year she currently holds the school record for most saves in program history.
Courtney Wyche is one strikeout away from became the fourth player in school history to record 600 career strikeouts.
