The Penn State softball team will find itself in an unfamiliar position this weekend.

It will be playing a conference opponent that it has never played before.

The Nittany Lions will host the Illinois Fighting Illini this weekend in the first-ever meeting between the two teams. The first game will start at 6 p.m. Saturday and the second at noon on Sunday. Both games will be played on Nittany Lion Field.

The Illini are in their second year of existence and their first season of Big Ten play. This weekend will mark their first Big Ten road-trip. Before they come to Happy Valley they will play a doubleheader against Ohio State on Friday.

Since Penn State has never played Illinois it could not go off of previous game experience to prepare for the Illini. Head softball coach Robin Petrini said she had to use the Internet and talk to people who had knowledge of the Illini to get ready for this weekend's set of games.

One unusual fact about Illinois is that all of its 17 players are freshman. Although the Lions may have more experience than the Illini, senior pitcher Kelly McCann does not think that gives them an advantage.

"I definitely do not think it give us an edge because of our own experience," McCann said. "Freshman have always been instrumental to our team. Just look at Marisa (Hanson). I don't know where we would be without her."

Fellow senior Allison Medellin said that the freshman presence could be an asset to the Illini. She said that all of the team members coming in together would create a strong team bond.

This weekend will be the second conference homestand for the Lions. Last weekend they went 1-3 against Northwestern and No. 12 Iowa.

Their most recent games were a doubleheader on Wednesday against Kent State. The Lions dropped both games to the Golden Flash. In the doubleheader the team committed a total of five errors, giving up eight unearned runs.

Defense has been a problem for the Lions most of the season and Petrini said that improvement in that area will help them get back to their winning ways.

"We need to play defense and we need all 21 outs," Petrini said.

In order to improve on their defense the Lions have been focusing on that area this week in practice.

"We have been creating some situations and giving them lots of grounders," Petrini said. "We have also been trying different people at different positions."

The team will put that practice to use this weekend against its new conference foe.