After starting last season 1-12 against one of the most difficult schedules in the country, the Penn State softball team went on a plus-.500 tear at the end of the season and earned an appearance in the Big Ten tournament -- its fifth trip in six years.

The Nittany Lions return eight players from last year's 25-33 squad, including all-Big Ten outfielders Leigh Murray, Meghan Wolfer and Jen Williams, and team captain and veteran first baseman Steph Viola.

"We have a good core of returning players that have had success in the program," Penn State coach Robin Petrini said. "We've added quite a few freshmen that are going to have an immediate impact on the program."

Two of those freshmen, right-handed pitchers Ashley Esparza and Jenn Reynolds, will be called upon to fill two holes left by Marisa Hanson and Shana Riggleman, who graduated after last season. They join redshirt junior Missy Beseres to complete Penn State's starting rotation.

Both have been very successful at the high school level. Reynolds, from Clovis, Calif., was a three-time All-American. Also living on the West Coast, Esparza was a three-time MVP of the Marine League and was named Los Angeles City Player of the Year.

Esparza's club team, where most players are recruited from, has been ranked in the top 10 nationwide; Reynolds' high-school team was ranked third in the nation in 2003 and took home multiple district and league titles during her career.

"Four of the freshmen have been down-to-the-wire at the national level," Petrini said. "The experience they have coming in, they've been in big games with games on the line and have come through big time. So I don't worry about them choking."

Having freshmen with big-game experience will make the adaptation to the college game much easier. A talented and battle-hardened crop of newcomers will give Petrini the depth needed to succeed in the Big Ten.

"There are nine people in that lineup," she said. "And you need more than two, three or four people that you rely on all the time, because everyone hits a slump at some point during the season. We have the depth, with the returners and the new blood, that different people at different times will get hot."

This was true last season, when the Penn State's offense relied heavily on the trio of all-Big Ten outfielders, with each hitting above .300 and accounting for half of the Lions runs. Penn State's defense wasn't all that impressive, either, committing 101 errors; departed shortstop Barbie Pierce led with 20.

"With all the new talent we have here, it kind of gives us a new face to our team," Murray said. "It can kind of change the momentum of where our program was going. We can kind of get into an upswing; they are new and fresh, and that's good when you are going up against to top teams ... I think it will be a lot fun."

That fun will begin this weekend at the Crimson Classic in Tuscaloosa, Ala.