The format is nearly the same, the trip is just as long, and this time, the Penn State women's softball team has a little bit of practice going into the Aggie Invitational II.
The only difference between this weekend's tournament and last weekend's Palm Springs Classic is the competition.
The teams meeting in Texas aren't quite of the same caliber as No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 Arizona that the Nittany Lions (0-5) faced in California, but they're not too far down the ladder either.
"If you're in the top 25, you're good," Penn State women's softball coach Robin Petrini said of the competition awaiting in Texas. "It's an uphill climb, and we knew it when we saw our schedule."
The young Lions were not afforded the luxury of beginning their season against mediocre teams.
The Bruins, Wildcats and two other ranked opponents all contributed to the rude awakening that began this softball season, and the Lions left sunny California burned with five losses.
Those were the first live games of the season, though.
Petrini said that it was important for her team to get out and play to knock the rust off the players.
The question will be if one weekend was enough to work out all of the kinks from last week's games.
Petrini said that she saw some good things last weekend, but also noted areas in need of improvement.
"I want us to put more balls in play. I want our defense to clean up a little bit. And I want our pitchers to keep pitching well," she said.
The Aggie Invitational II should be a good testing ground to see if the team gained anything from the five tough losses a week ago. While Penn State won't be facing the elite teams of the country this time, it will be matching up against two more ranked opponents in No. 17 Oregon and No. 25 Texas A&M.
Southern Mississippi is the fourth team battling in College Station, Texas, and is the only other unranked competitor in addition to Penn State. But the Lions pulled the short straw -- playing the Golden Eagles just once, while playing the Ducks and Aggies twice.
--By Jonathan Fodi
