Rocke’s First-Career Homer Lifts Terps Past Buffalo, 3-2, In Eight Innings

Friday, February 13

Greenville, NC

10 AM

Maryland

3-3

Buffalo

2-4

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Maryland	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	5	2
Buffalo	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	9	0

Rocke’s First-Career Homer Lifts Terps Past Buffalo, 3-2, In Eight Innings

2/13/2026 10:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

The freshman catcher’s timely blast put Maryland on the winning side of a classic pitchers’ duel.

GREENVILLE, NC — Zayda Rocke's two-run homer in extra innings lifted the Terps past Buffalo, 3-2, in eight innings in Maryland's (3-3) first game of the Purple-Gold Classic on Friday morning. Incredible performances in the circle from three different Terps kept Buffalo's (2-4) bats at bay as Maryland outlasted the Bulls to start the weekend.

Anna McGowan smacked Maryland's first homer of the season out to center field in the top of the second to get the scoring started.

Buffalo used a long frame to tie the game up at 1-1 in the bottom of the second, but Caitlin Olensky stranded runners on to limit the damage while Jaylee Williams threw a runner out at the plate. Olensky made her third start of the season in the circle for the Terps. She threw a pair of innings before Elisea Wiegand took over in the third. The freshman kept Buffalo at bay across 3.2 scoreless innings of work.

Both pitching staffs worked out of jams in the fourth inning. A McGowan double put runners on second and third with one out, but Buffalo kept Maryland from scoring in the frame. Wiegand kept the game tied in the bottom of the inning, leaving the bases loaded with Bulls as her defense backed her up.

Keira Bucher came in with two outs in the sixth inning, and kept Buffalo off the board again, stranding three runners and sending a tied ballgame to the seventh inning. The Bulls brought the winning run to second in the seventh, but a 5-3 double play from Maryland sent the pitchers' duel to extras.

Rocke's clutch homer — the first of her collegiate career — finally broke the tie in the eighth inning, giving Bucher enough run support to shut down the Bulls for good and start the weekend with a Maryland win.

How It Happened:
First Inning:

Olensky fanned a batter in a 1-2-3 inning.

Second Inning:

McGowan hit her first-career home run to put Maryland up 1-0.
Buffalo tied the game with an infield single.
Olensky stranded three on base to work out of the jam.

Third Inning:

Wiegand worked a scoreless frame as she relieved Olensky.

Fourth Inning:

McGowan smacked a one-out double into the left-center gap for her second extra-base hit of the game.
Wiegand stranded a trio of Bulls on the bases as she worked a scoreless frame.

Fifth Inning: