After last weekend’s sweep of Virginia, Laura Watten said she doesn’t like to think much about winning streaks like the 13-game one her Terrapin softball team is currently enjoying.
Neither do her players, for that matter.
“They don’t even talk about it,” Watten said. “They can set goals for themselves, but really they don’t really talk about it. It’s not really a focus for them. Their focus is really one game at a time and one team at a time.”
That’s not to say, though, that the Terps aren’t enjoying the fruits of a lengthy run of dominant play.
“It’s a great feeling, especially going into conference play,” pitcher Kerry Hickey said. “I feel like we keep getting better. I think we’re peaking at the right time in the season, so it’s a great feeling. We’re very confident going into this weekend, and we feel like we can really do something special.”
Headed into a three-game series against No. 25 Georgia Tech (28-5, 2-0 ACC), the Terps (22-9, 2-0 ACC) are riding a win streak tied for the second longest in school history, behind only a 16-game streak early in the 2008 season. Hickey and outfielder Lauren Ghent are the only two Terps remaining from that team.
Aside from possibly exiting this weekend having tied the record winning streak, the Terps can also take control of the ACC early in the year with a strong showing.
“They know the games this weekend are important, mainly because they’re conference games,” Watten said. “Georgia Tech is a big nemesis in the conference because they are the best. Everybody’s going to be trying to take down the best. It’s something that hopefully, we’ll go out there and really challenge them.”
The Yellow Jackets are the defending conference champions and have won 21 of their past 22 games. With Georgia Tech boasting eight regulars in the lineup batting .333 or higher, the Terps know their work is cut out for them.
“It looks like everyone on their team hits, all the way down the lineup,” infielder Bree Hanafin said. “They have people who are making stuff happen and that’s just what we need to do, too.”
“They just consistently have strong hitting,” Watten added. “They always have a strong offense and produce a lot of runs. They’re offsetting that well with pitching this year. The combination, of course, are things that enable them to do so well.”
Georgia Tech’s not alone, though. The Terps are also reaping the benefits of a strong offense and a lockdown defense in their winning streak. In the past seven games, the Terps have outscored their opponents by a staggering 47-1 margin, and over the entire streak, the difference expands to 77-11.
“We set a bar over the weekend and in the last few games, so we just need to keep reaching for that bar each time we go out,” Watten said.
But win streaks and statistics aside, the Terps know this weekend’s goal.
“Hopefully, we’ll go out and really take control of the games and establish ourselves as being legitimately in the top part of conference,” Watten said.
“We see it as the ACC is ours to take,” Hickey added, “and if we really stick with our game and play the way we know how to play, I think it’s wide open.”
dgallen@umdbk.com
