For all intents and purposes, the Terrapin softball team’s preseason, according to coach Laura Watten, ended April 14.
After a 1-0 loss to in-state rival Towson last Wednesday dealt a crushing blow to the team’s NCAA Tournament hopes, the Terps held a team meeting the next day to discuss their mentality heading into the season’s homestretch.
The Tigers loss, and many other disappointing defeats like it, were no longer of consequence.
“We’re just going to treat the rest of the season like we’re playing a mini-season — like we’re just starting out,” Watten said.
Though the Terps enter a crucial weekend series at N.C. State (27-21, 8-7 ACC) with a 28-17 record on paper, outfielder Vangie Galindo said the team feels it has a clean slate after a key series victory against North Carolina last weekend.
“We just said, ‘You know what? We’re going start over,'” said Galindo, recounting the team meeting. “‘It’s a brand new season. We’re 0-0.'”
The two victories over the Tar Heels — which marked the first time the Terps had won a game against North Carolina since 2007 and their first series win since 2002 — might have been their biggest of the season.
“It should be good for our confidence level,” Watten said. “A good momentum builder going into the rest of our conference series — especially going back down to N.C. State. It’s a good thing. We just gotta take care of the next round.”
The Terps could have easily collapsed after the loss to Towson but instead thrived in Chapel Hill and revived their season. Watten says how the Terps bounced back to win the North Carolina series shows a lot about the team’s character.
“It shows where we’re really supposed to be at this point,” Watten said. “We’re playing well, we’re putting things together. We just gotta keep going.”
The Terps seem to be hitting their stride at the right time, and a solid showing against the Wolfpack would further strengthen their ACC and NCAA Tournament stock. But if the Terps falter — as they did through the early portion of their ACC schedule — their tournament credentials would likely again be in question.
As the Terps look to climb to .500 in conference play, the team knows every game matters. But despite the added stress, Watten has insisted all year they are more focused on their next game than how their season will end.
“Just put the foot on the gas pedal and keep it going, taking it one game at a time,” Watten said. “We just have to have that mentality. We can’t keep looking back. … That’s not what we need to do right now. We need to keep pressing on so we can get better and peak at the right time.”
Though the Wolfpack rank above the Tar Heels in the ACC standings, they lack the star power of their Carolina rivals. But as the Terps learned from their losses to weaker programs earlier in the year, they can’t take anyone lightly at this point.
“We’ve just gotta take care of ourselves and play our best,” Watten said. “Hopefully it will turn out the way we want it to.”
schneider@umdbk.com