The Terrapin softball team began last weekend needing two things to happen.

First, the fifth-place Terps needed to take care of business against sixth-place Georgia Tech.

Second, they needed fourth-place N.C. State to tank against Florida State, allowing the Terps to gain ground and possibly move up into the top half of the ACC with only a series against bottom-feeder Boston College remaining on the conference schedule.

The Wolfpack did their part and were swept by the Seminoles.

But the Terps (34-18, 6-12 ACC) dropped the ball and got swept themselves, allowing Georgia Tech to leapfrog both schools. The sixth-place Terps now find themselves on the outside looking in, and the Yellow Jackets are sitting pretty at fourth in the ACC.

Back in March, the Terps kicked off their conference schedule by playing in order the ACC’s top three teams – North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Florida State – and got off to an understandably slow start. But the Terps made incremental progress each week before finally winning their series against the Seminoles, 2-1.

But days later, the Terps received word of their biggest loss all season.

Junior pitcher Meredith Nelles, the team’s most experienced pitcher and the only holdover from the previous season’s staff, had a nagging back injury that had worsened and would keep her out for the rest of the season. Sophomore Lindsey Wright was thrust into a starter’s role and junior transfer Sarah Dooley became the ace.

Wright has performed admirably in Nelles’s absence – going 4-2 with a 3.08 ERA – but coach Laura Watten thinks the loss had a psychological effect on her club.

“It puts pressure on the pitching staff and it also puts pressure on the hitters because they feel like they have to produce all these runs,” Watten said. “It’s tough to rebound from that immediately. Pretty much most of our losses are because of our confidence being bumped because of the losses of our key players.”

Adding to the Terps’ injury troubles was a worsening back injury to freshman pitcher Kerry Hickey, one of the team’s leading hitters and Watten’s favorite change-of-pace pitcher.

Hickey’s condition worsened over the next couple weeks to the point where she was taken completely out of the lineup, turning the Terps’ once-deep pitching staff into a two-woman show and drastically reducing the potency of the lineup.

“You don’t plan on having injuries to the most important part of your team,” Watten said. “One of our main strengths that enabled us to really be able to produce runs at the plate was that we had depth in our pitching staff. To lose that, it’s been tough to kind of get it all back in place.”

Now, the chances seem slim that the Terps will reach the postseason, barring an impressive showing in the conference tournament. But Watten doesn’t know how the postseason selections will pan out and believes her team still has something to play for.

“We have games, so we have something to play for,” she said. “I think we just have to grit it out and give it our best because it’s not up to us. It was up to us, and we had a tough time not making it through, staying confident in the conference games.”

The Terps will try to jumpstart their confidence today at Towson. The Terps are 20-7 all time against the Tigers (32-23), and have won nine of the last 10 matchups. Last year, the Terps defeated the Tigers twice, 4-2 and 5-1.

“We really want to come out and win the rest of our games,” senior outfielder Jenny Belak, who is still one hit shy of the school’s career hits record, said. “We’re really trying to focus on ending the season strong and hopefully still have a chance at the postseason.”

jnewmandbk@gmail.com