Softball looks to start strong with ACC opener

Coach Laura Watten leaned back in the chair in her office after hearing a question she's heard many times since becoming the Terrapin softball team's coach in 2005.

With the Terps starting conference play against Virginia this weekend at Robert E. Taylor Stadium, she knew she would again be asked about the ACC.

Watten needed less than a second to respond.

"I hate all ACC teams. They're all the same to me," Watten said with a laugh. "I don't like any of them. I want to beat every single ACC team big. I can find things I dislike about every single team."

Love them or hate them, the Terps know games against these conference teams will determine whether they make the NCAA Tournament, their lofty preseason goal. Play well, and the postseason is a possibility; struggle, and the ACC Tournament will be the last time the Terps play in 2010.

"It's nerve-racking," outfielder Vangie Galindo said. "You get nervous because they're big games. These games place you. They determine whether you'll go into postseason, so they're huge. It's a lot of pressure, but it's a spot you like to be in. We've done it all our lives."

Headeing into conference play, the Terps (10-7) seem to have righted the ship after getting off to a slow start. Since their embarrassing Feb. 28 shutout loss to then-No. 4 Michigan, the Terps have won six of seven games.

The Terps struggled to score runs early in the year. During their current hot streak, though, they have had an offensive resurgence of sorts. Even when they haven't delivered at the plate, the Terps have been able to ride their overpowering pitching to tough victories.

However, the Terps know it will be hard to maintain their hot hitting against conference opponents that are much tougher than the likes of Howard and Towson.

"Going into conference, the pitching is a lot better," Galindo said. "With quicker and harder pitching, it's going to get tougher."

The Terps' three-game sweep of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., last year was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise disappointing 2009 ACC campaign.

"Last year we beat them pretty soundly at their place, so I know they're going to come in here and give us some good games," Watten said.

schneider@umdbk.com