Momentum in sports can be a fleeting thing. It’s difficult to attain, even harder to keep. But when it’s harnessed, few things are more dangerous.
Just when it was most needed, the Terrapins softball team may have finally found some momentum. After suffering through a stretch in which they lost six straight games and eight of 10 overall, the Terps finally got back into the win column Wednesday with a doubleheader sweep of George Mason. This weekend, they enter a crucial road series with ACC foe Georgia Tech in the midst of their first winning streak in nearly a month.
“We need to stay with what we did [Wednesday],” coach Laura Watten said after her team’s two victories over the Patriots. “We need to stay confident.”
After bursting from the gate with a 10-2 start, the Terps (20-14, 0-3 ACC) have regressed into an inconsistent squad. Their recent slide left them tied for last in the ACC and cast a shadow over a once-promising season.
And while wins over such teams as George Mason (9-20) may not exactly inspire hope against top-tier competition, two come-from-behind wins can do a lot for a team.
“It didn’t matter how we did it,” pitcher Kaitlyn Schmeiser said Wednesday. “No matter what, we had to win.”
The Terps, winless in ACC play so far, have a three-game set against the Yellow Jackets (24-16, 6-3) in Atlanta this weekend. They’ll need the one-two punch of pitchers Kendra Knight and Schmeiser to be at its best to stop Georgia Tech, which possesses one of the best offenses in the ACC.
They’ll also need much of the same offensively, including more of the clutch work in the batter’s box they showed Wednesday against the Patriots.
“Leaving runners on base was an issue of pressing,” Watten said. “We’ll work through that … and focus on the things we did right today.”
Having passed the season’s halfway point, the Terps’ road certainly doesn’t get easier from here. But if they can sustain the intensity they showed Wednesday, the Terps can parlay two nonconference wins into something much more meaningful this weekend.
“We could either come back flat, or we can come back … and be absolutely electric,” Schmeiser said. “We’re just remembering how to have fun.”
benscher@umdbk.com
