Last year, taking one game in a series from Florida State was considered a success and a turning point in what was, at that point, a seemingly lost season for the Terrapin softball team.

This year, one win would be viewed as a failure.

“We need these wins,” pitcher Kendra Knight said. “Not only two, we’re going down there to take three.”

A win last April against Florida State jump-started the Terps’ season, but the Seminoles ultimately ended the team’s run in the ACC Tournament in May. But any thoughts of last year’s games won’t be a focal point for the Terps (30-13, 6-4 ACC) as they head down to Tallahassee for a three-game set with the Seminoles (25-21, 7-7).

“You refer back to it, but you never think about the game itself,” outfielder Sara Acosta said.

Coach Laura Watten said she sees a completely different Terp team from the one that finished 8-11 in ACC play a year ago.

“I feel like this year’s team has a grown a lot more at this point, and we’ve come together a whole lot more at this point,” Watten said. “We just have some different tools as well.”

“New talent, new people, just a new focus all around,” Knight said.

But Watten is concerned with how the Terps will respond to traveling to Florida State. After a flight to Jacksonville and a nearly three-hour drive to Tallahassee, the Terps will face a true road test for only the third time this year.

“It’s tough because of their fans,” Watten said. “It’s just a different environment. Going down to Tallahassee is a little bit different because of the climate change as well. It takes a lot of fatigue. … It’s physically and mentally challenging all the way around, but again, it’s just something we have to do. It’s what we all have to do.”

The players, however, seem to be focused on playing softball, not travel logistics. Acosta said she thinks the Terps have the “whole package” this year, with offense, pitching and defense all clicking.

“Our infield gets a lot of reps, our outfield gets a lot of reps and just those little inconsistent errors where we weren’t there mentally, those aren’t there anymore,” Acosta said. “Everyone’s just really focused on making the plays and getting the outs and getting us back in the dugout.”

That focus could be overwhelming for the Terps, as Watten feels like the team has started pressing recently, especially in its struggles against NC State and Binghamton.

“We just have really got to be relaxed,” Watten said. “Our at-bats that we haven’t been as successful in … and in clutch situations are all about trying too hard. We’ve just got to go down and get to that place and be relaxed and just have fun playing the game and not over-thinking.”

Watten said that overeagerness stems in part from the team’s expectation for a fast start every inning, which contributes to some rash decision-making normally seen on losing teams. The sixth-year coach has pointed to the team’s ability to keep a positive mental makeup as an important component of success.

“For us, we can’t make anybody bigger than what they really are,” Watten said. “It’s not that Florida State isn’t as strong as they used to be, it’s that we’re stronger and we’ve got to realize that. That’s the key.”

“You always have thoughts about last year,” Knight said, “but like I said, it’s a different team, so anything that happened last year is kind of irrelevant at this point.”

dgallen@umdbk.com