The last time the women's softball team played a home game, the Washington Redskins were the reigning Super Bowl champs, Duke had gone back-to-back, and there were no cats in the White House.

Nearly a month and a half into the 1993 season, the Lady Lions host their first home matchups of the year with doubleheaders today and tomorrow against conference rival Minnesota. The contest, which marks the first time the team will grace Lady Lion field since May, 1992, couldn't have come soon enough for Penn State.

The Lady Lions (8-14, 0-4) are in the midst of a nine-game skid that has included losing its first four Big Ten games. The matchup with the Golden Golphers (12-16, 0-2) gives the team a chance to not only try out their new playing surface (Lady Lion field was refurbished during the offseason), but to grab some much-needed victories, especially within the conference.

According to Coach Sue Rankin, the weekend presents a must-win situation for the Lady Lions, who came into Bg Ten play with high hopes only to have them dashed. In its first conference games against Iowa earlier this season, Penn State dropped four straight.

Notes:

-- Penn State wasn't supposed to have waited this long for a home game. The Lady Lion Blue Classic, scheduled for the weekend of March 20-21, was cancelled due to weather and poor playing conditions.

-- While both teams have struggled to similar results so far this season, the Golden Gophers might have an advantage over the Lady Lions. The first five weeks of Minnesota's season was spent travelling the South and West racking up 11 games against teams ranked in the Top 20. During that span the team went 1-10.