Softball extends winning streak to 13 games

There wasn't a whole lot about the Terrapin softball team's performance this weekend that wasn't overpowering. With eight home runs, two straight shutouts and the inertia of a winning streak now at 13 straight games, the Terps left little doubt that their ACC-opening weekend at Virginia wasn't going to end any differently from most of their recent games.

"We just went out and we brought every part of our game with us," coach Laura Watten said. "We just played really well all the way around. Pitching was good, hitting was good, we executed well and we had good energy the entire time."

Infielder Lexi Carroll led the offense on the weekend, recording four of the team's home runs and eight RBI in a 4-for-8 showing. Outfielder Nikki Maier, making her first starts since March 9 against East Carolina, tallied two more home runs, adding to a 5-for-8 day that included two runs scored and four RBI.

"I feel like it was just the mentality," Watten said. "We legitimately scored runs, we were legitimately hitting the ball, we were legitimately making things happen. Regardless of the strength of pitching, we did well with our approach to the plate."

Infielders Candice Beards and Bree Hanafin also hit their third and sixth home runs on the year, respectively, as the Terps (22-9, 2-0 ACC) combined to shut out the Cavaliers (15-17, 0-5), 20-0, in two games.

While the Terps' bats were alive at the plate, the pitching in the circle from Kerry Hickey and Kendra Knight overpowered Virginia. In the first game, a 13-0 romp that ended in five innings, Hickey allowed two hits and four walks while striking out seven batters, improving her record to 9-5 after starting the year 3-5.

In the later 7-0 win, Knight allowed three hits and three walks while striking out 10 batters in the complete-game shutout.

"We've really been focused on keeping pitch count down and done a lot of detailed work on scouting reports and making sure that we understand our pitch calling," Watten said. "I think the main focus is keeping our pitch count down and making sure that we get ahead on batters and that we don't lose certain hitters in the lineup to walks or hits."

The two wins on Saturday pushed the Terps' winning streak to 13 games, with their toughest challenge of the year due up next weekend in ACC favorite Georgia Tech. While Watten knows it's easy to get wrapped up in different streaks, she also knows the team has much to achieve in a still-young season.

"I don't really think about win streaks or anything like that because the more you focus on that, you take your eyes off of the goal," Watten said. "Our goal is really just to continue to do well in our conference games and the rest of the season and just to continue to get better every day. While win streaks are more of something that fans enjoy to see, we're just really focused on doing our best in conference and our goal of finishing in the top half of conference. We really just have to take it one series at a time."

dgallen@umdbk.com