Johnson’s walk-off grand slam clinches sweep of Maryland for Washington softball

Olivia Johnson’s walk-off grand slam gave the Huskies a doubleheader sweep over the Maryland Terrapins on Thursday.

Early in the week, the Washington Huskies moved their home-opener up and scheduled a doubleheader with a future Big Ten conference opponent, the Maryland Terrapins.

Thanks to a walk-off grand slam from junior Olivia Johnson in the second half of the doubleheader to cap off a 6-0 comeback, the Huskies were able to complete the sweep of the Terps and move to 14-2 on the season.

Before the miraculous comeback, coach Heather Tarr’s team started the day the right way with an 8-0 run-ahead rule victory behind the right arm of sophomore Ruby Meylan, who allowed 3 hits and struck out 6 batters over 5 innings.

Offensively, junior Rylee Holtorf led the way with 3 runs batted in, including a 2 RBI triple in the second inning before adding a sacrifice fly to push across the game-winning run in the fourth. Graduate transfer Jillian Celis added 2 hits and 2 RBIs in the victory, while junior Kinsey Fiedler stole home to open the scoring in the second inning.

Lindsay Lopez didn’t have her best day in the circle to start off the second game. The Arizona State transfer lasted just 2/3 of an inning, allowing 5 hits, 6 earned runs, and 3 walks, highlighted by a grand slam off the bat of Sydney Lewis.

However, first year Sidne Peters had her best outing as a Husky in relief of Lopez. She shut down the Maryland offense, striking out 7 and allowing just one baserunner, which came on a walk, over 5 1/3 innings. Washington slowly chipped away at the lead, with sophomore Sydney Stewart’s second home run of the season cutting the deficit to 6-2 in the fourth inning.

That score held until the seventh inning, when Celis led off with her second home run of the season. After Holtorf’s second triple of the day, she scored on a single off the bat from sophomore Alana Johnson to cut the deficit to 6-4 before walks to Fiedler and Stewart loaded the bases for Olivia Johnson.

In an 0-2 hole, Johnson sent a shot over the fence in left center field to complete Washington’s impressive comeback.

The Huskies will return to the field on Friday in Eugene, Oregon, for the first of two games against Mount St. Mary’s in the Jane Sanders Classic.