While the Terrapins women’s softball team struggled at the Georgia State Tournament this weekend, coach Julie Wright remained focused on the positives.

Wright said the Terps started to establish an identity in their five games in Atlanta and pointed to numerous individual performances as reason for optimism despite the team’s 1-4 weekend record and 3-7 overall mark this season.

“We were in situations that pushed us both mentally and physically,” Wright said. “I feel like we’re in a really good space right now as we continue moving forward.”

“I’ve seen first-time starters really grow in their roles,” she added.

Aside from a 6-5 win over Mercer, the Terps were outscored by 22-9 against Georgia State, Miami (OH) and in two contests with No. 5 Alabama.

Even so, outfielder Destiney Henderson and third baseman Skylynne Ellazar, both of whom are sophomores, continued to perform well at the plate and in the field.

Henderson went 5-for-18 over the weekend and robbed a home run in center field, while Ellazar went 6-for-16 and hit safely in every game.

“[Ellazar] has done a really good job at third base,” Wright said, “She made some plays this weekend that were learned from plays last weekend that she didn’t make.”

On Saturday, Henderson came through with a walk-off RBI single to give the Terps their lone win of the weekend, over Mercer.

“Coach told me to find the gap, so that was basically what I was trying to do,” Henderson said. “And I found it.”

Another bright spot for the Terps was Lindsey Schmeiser, who broke the program’s all-time home run record with her 31st career long ball against Alabama on Friday.

On the mound, utility player Hannah Dewey performed well, holding the Crimson Tide to one unearned run in five innings Friday.

After a shaky couple of performances in Arizona last weekend, pitcher Madison Martin was solid in relief. She pitched 4.2 innings across three games and allowed one run.

“The pitchers faced some really tough hitters and so they’re learning and improving leaps and bounds,” Wright said.

The pitchers kept the Terps competitive, but the team struggled to close out games. The Terps stranded the bases loaded to end the game in a 1-0 loss to Alabama and lost to Georgia State, 4-3, on a two-run walk-off hit.

The team was not fazed by this weekend’s adversity, though, Schmeiser said.

“We responded pretty well,” she said. “Everybody kept their heads up and just kept plowing.”