Maddie Martin
Before the season started, the Terrapins softball team was supposed to have a five-day break between its series against Florida State and this weekend’s series at N.C. State. But coach Laura Watten recently changed her team’s plans.
Instead of participating in simulated hitting, fielding and baserunning scenarios during extra practice sessions, the Terps will try to make improvements during live play as they face Coppin State in today’s doubleheader.
The additional nonconference games were added to the team’s schedule, Watten said, to compensate for the game against Florida Atlantic that was canceled due to weather earlier in the season. The games also fall in line with the Terps’ schedule of late, which has many conference series on the weekends and nonconference doubleheaders during the middle of the week.
“The midweek games are good for us,” Watten said. “It’s good to take a weekend like this and reassess and go into Wednesday’s games and try to apply some of those things.”
The eighth-year coach knows her young team cannot remedy all of its problems during its doubleheader against the Eagles (8-15). Instead, Watten is focusing on specific aspects of the Terps’ past showings and emphasizing what needs to be improved, evidenced by the prolonged meeting she had with her pitchers and catchers after Sunday’s loss.
The Terps (17-18) conceded a season-high 14 runs in Sunday’s game against the Seminoles during a rough weekend in the circle for the pitching staff. Pitchers Maddie Martin, Kaitlyn Schmeiser and Lexi Carroll struggled to establish control against Florida State’s high-powered lineup.
For a team that kept top offenses like those of UCLA and California to lower tallies earlier this season, Watten wanted to make sure her pitchers knew they could overcome these rough patches.
“They’re good enough to be really locking teams down,” Watten said. “They just have to bounce back and have the confidence to do that.”
Also, consistent defensive play could provide a confidence boost to the pitching staff, infielder Lindsey Schmeiser said. It’s one less distraction in the circle.
“Just little things,” Schmeiser said. “[It] gives the pitchers chances to throw pitches and work on pitches that they really, really need to perfect.”
The smaller details are something the Terps emphasize, which has already made a difference for some players offensively.
Infielder Melissa Mancuso said a recently adopted routine at the plate is to thank for her success against the Seminoles. Before the senior would approach the batter’s box, she would stare at her bat and take a deep breath, continuously saying, “See the ball in your head” as she settled into her stance.
Though she possesses a .205 batting average on the season, she hit .500 this past weekend and hopes she can continue her hot streak against the Eagles, who have allowed opponents to hit .360 against them.
Although the competition in recent midweek contests has been weaker in comparison to their conference foes, the Terps look forward to fine-tuning parts of their game in today’s doubleheader. Besides, being unprepared when it travels to N.C. State this weekend may not bode well for the team.
“I just love playing games,” Schmeiser said. “In [these] kinds of games, that’s when you … can focus on little things that can make you better for the bigger games.”
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