Jaclyn Borowski/The Diamondback

Terrapin softball coach Laura Watten’s number one goal for 2010 — the last year in her five-year contract — was to do something the program hasn’t accomplished since 1999.

“Our goal is to get in the postseason and do well in the postseason,” Watten said days before the Terps started the 2010 campaign in February. “Ultimately, in the end, that’s where we want to be. We want to peak at the end and be playing are best ball at that time.”

After a rough beginning to the season and an even worse start to ACC play, the Terps appear to be rounding into form down the stretch. But with a middling 3-8 conference record, it’s unclear if they can make up enough ground to play past the ACC Tournament.

The Terps (25-16) took two of three from Virginia Tech over the weekend, and have won three of their last four conference contests after starting out ACC play on a seven-game losing streak.

While the Terps have insisted they treat every game equally, some players have admitted they’re aware of the importance of conference play for making the NCAA Tournament. With Boston College and N.C. State — two of the conference’s weaker teams — rounding out the Terps’ ACC schedule, there is an opportunity.

“It’s nerve-racking,” outfielder Vangie Galindo said before the Terps opened their ACC slate against Virginia in March. “You get nervous because they’re big games. These games place you. They determine whether you’ll go into postseason, so they’re huge. It’s a lot of pressure.”

The pressure might have gotten to the Terps early, as they were swept by Virginia and No. 10 Georgia Tech before losing the first two games of their series against No. 19 Florida State.

The slow start was discouraging for the Terps, but they were able to glean positives out of the slump.

“Those series are series we really learned a lot from,” Watten said. “We had to walk away realizing that we actually did win a lot of those games, regardless of the scoreboard or what our record shows. We really outhit [Georgia Tech and Florida State], and we outplayed them on so many levels.”

“I feel very, very confident in our team,” infielder Alex Schultz said. “We’ve controlled the top teams in the conference, and we should be one of them.”

Even with the recent success, the Terps sit in sixth place in the eight-team conference. Last season, three ACC teams made the NCAA Tournament. The Terps finished 29-26 and 9-11 in the ACC, clearly needing an upset ACC Tournament victory for any shot at playing further.

“Right now we just have to take care of us,” Watten said. “[The NCAA Tournament] will end up the way it’s supposed to. We take care of ourselves from here on out, we still have a good shot at that. We do have a lot of conference games left and we just need to keep getting better and take care of those games.”

As the Terps prepare to play Towson tomorrow, they are aware of how important their remaining ACC matchups are.

“I feel like every game from here on out is going to be big,” pitcher Kerry Hickey said, “We really need to come out with a “W” every single game.”

schneider@umdbk.com