Sophomore infielder Jen Acunto had an odd experience yesterday -- something she hadn't done since last fall.

She finally stepped on her home turf.

After 22 consecutive away games and a string of cold, rainy State College weather, the Penn State softball team was finally able to step foot on Nittany Lion Field for the first time all season in preparation for tonight's game. The Nittany Lions are slated to make their home debut at 6 p.m. vs. St. Francis (Pa.).

"It feels weird," Acunto said of the homefield practice. "But from here on out, pretty much, it's going to be a long stretch of homefield advantage."

The non-conference contest will be the Lions' final tune-up before the Big Ten season -- and 11 straight home games. Penn State coach Robin Petrini said she wants to use this game as a springboard to further improve her team's hitting and scoring ability.

Last season, the Lions demolished St. Francis. Penn State won both games in five innings by triggering the mercy rule, 12-0 and 13-0. The Red Flash finished with one hit and four errors in the doubleheader.

Acunto politely explained that while she admired some of St. Francis' characteristics, she hinted that the Red Flash weren't exactly a powerhouse.

"It's love of the game for them; they don't care what the score is," she said. "And that's great. It's hard if someone's getting beat so badly to maintain your focus, and I think they do a great job of that."

Acunto and Petrini both said they wouldn't overlook St. Francis, and Petrini even explained how a team similar to the Red Flash came in one year and upset the Lions.

Needless to say, Petrini said her team was trying to avoid a similar monumental letdown.

"Sometimes, St. Francis comes in here and gives us a scare -- not that I'm not confident that we will beat them -- but if you don't take them seriously, you could end up on the wrong end of that stick," Petrini said.

The Red Flash (11-15) have improved from last season but are still the heavy underdog in tonight's matchup. Meanwhile, the Lions (18-4) are off to their best start in program history -- and players are looking forward to finally playing at home.

"We don't have to wake up two hours early," pitcher Ashley Esparza said with a laugh. "It's nice playing at home."

Esparza said she doesn't mind traveling too much -- unlike a lot of her teammates -- but acknowledged it gets old after a while. And the 10-hour plane ride to Hawaii a few weeks ago didn't help matters.

"That's about as bad as it got," Esparza said. "I think we watched about six movies."

The trip wasn't nearly as bad for Acunto, who said she took a Tylenol PM and nearly slept for the entire ride.

But, come today, the Lions won't have to worry about any of that -- for the first time in 22 games.

"It's just fun to play at home," Petrini said. "It's fun to go to bed at night and when you wake up and go to your classes, it's game day.

"You're not in a hotel, you're not eating out for breakfast, you're in kind of your own routine at home, but you get to add a game to it."