The Terrapins softball team believes it can match up with any team.
That showed last Saturday when the Terps almost took down No. 6 Oregon in the Kajikawa Classic tournament before allowing a late rally.
“We can see where we’re headed and what we can potentially get to this season,” utility player Hannah Dewey said.
This weekend in Atlanta, the Terps hope to channel the same type of intensity that nearly pushed them over a top-10 team. The team will play five games — against No. 5 Alabama twice, Georgia State, Miami (Ohio) and Mercer — and players believe they can sustain success if they stay aggressive on the basepaths and maintain their focus.
The Terps went 2-3 in their season-opening tournament, and coach Julie Wright said the team could’ve played better.
“I told them that we should have come out 3-2 and that I thought we did not play well on Sunday at all,” Wright said.
It will be an emotional few days for pitcher Brenna Nation, as the Georgia native will go back home to play in front of family and friends for the first time since losing her father to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the fall.
Nation said it will be a difficult weekend for her, but she is looking forward to getting support from her loved ones in the stands. The Terps will once again wear purple warm-up jerseys on Sunday to raise awareness for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, as they plan to do every Sunday.
Dewey, who plays pitcher, infielder and outfielder on a regular basis, is a player the Terps will rely on to set the tone this weekend. The junior led the Terps in walks and on-base percentage last season and is featured in the middle of the lineup on a regular basis.
“I’m needed in a lot of areas,” Dewey said. “I love the challenge.”
After an inconsistent weekend on the mound, Dewey said her pitching needs to become more of a focus. She called it “a reality check” and said she let the game slip away.
Wright said she expects sparkplug outfielder Sarah Calta — perhaps the best base-stealing threat on the team — to rebound from a weekend during which she failed to record a hit.
Last Sunday, Wright dropped Calta from the No. 2 spot in the lineup to the bottom half of the order. She said the move was made to give the junior more pitches to hit.
It was a strong week of practice for the Terps, Wright said, and the team is prepared for the weekend.
“We’re getting after it in the weight room and doing things we have to do skill set-wise to make sure we shore up some things for this coming weekend,” Wright said. “I feel good about their preparation, and I feel good about where they’re at mentally.”
