Coach Laura Watten dutifully fills in the names on her lineup card before the start of every game, carefully crafting a list of 10 Terrapin softball players she feels will give the Terps the best chance to win.
Though the Terps’ opponents and even their results have changed, that lineup has remained largely constant since a Feb. 25 game with Kent State.
And with a four-game winning streak entering tonight’s doubleheader against Fordham at Robert E. Taylor Stadium, Watten feels she’s found a core of players who can produce offensively and develop defensively.
“I think we’re producing, and it just seems to be a lineup that’s producing the most consistently offensively, so defensively, we just have to make it work the best we can,” said Watten, who has started the same top five batters in the order for 11 of the past 12 games. “The key is scoring runs and producing and getting on, so I feel like that’s been kind of the flow of it.”
The offense starts at the top of the order with outfielder Sara Acosta. The Terps’ leadoff hitter helps set the table for the team, taking pitches to give teammates a sense of what the pitcher’s throwing and using her speed to get the offense started.
“There’s key players in key situations that they just have to do the job, and they have to be good enough athletes and players to come out of whatever mental situation or slump they might be in, and she’s someone that can do that in an at-bat or even in a game,” Watten said.
Behind Acosta are the Terps’ two biggest producers on the year, outfielder Vangie Galindo and infielder Bree Hanafin. The two rank as the team’s top two hitters, with a .369 and .414 average, respectively. Galindo had a 13-game hit streak snapped Sunday against Quinnipiac but still managed to get on base and score her 13th run of the year, tied for the team lead with Hanafin.
“Just getting on base and having Vangie and Bree behind me, I know we’re going to score that inning if I get on,” Acosta said.
On a team already bolstered by the addition of the transfer Hanafin and the emergence of Galindo as an offensive threat, the Terps might have more offense coming. Infielder Lexi Carroll had her breakout performance this weekend at the Under Armour Showcase at the University of South Florida, batting .533 with two home runs and six RBI, bumping her average up to .297 on the year.
“It just seemed like everything was going my way,” Carroll said. “We had a good week in practice last week.”
With sustained success, Carroll’s breakthrough could add pop to the Terps’ middle of the lineup. No. 4 and No. 5 hitters Kerry Hickey and Marisha Branson have combined for four home runs in 22 games this season, and another hot bat could only add to that from the No. 6 spot.
“I feel like Lexi’s really stepped in and done well offensively and just getting her more comfortable defensively is the key,” Watten said. “She’s definitely stepped in and worked through things offensively. She didn’t have a lot of opportunities last year. We tossed her in and she’s done a really good job adjusting.”
While Fordham (14-10) beat the Terps (13-9) twice last year in the College Park Regional of the NCAA Tournament, the team seems focused on improving itself and gelling into a cohesive unit.
“We just have to keep playing as a team,” Carroll said. “At the beginning, we kind of started out as individuals, but we’re starting to come together a lot more. Infield, outfield, pitching, catching — we look more like one unit than nine different people.”
dgallen@umdbk.com
