Hey Illini softball fans! I'm Kailee Powell (#5) and I'm here to give you an inside look on the recent games! This past weekend's home opener against Minnesota was a series of progressions that was necessary for our team to go through in order to step up our game. For more than half of our players, this was the first time playing a conference game at our home field: nerves and expectations were high. It took us a couple games, but eventually we settled down and started playing softball at the high level at which we normally play. We have a very skilled team as shown in our previous games, and we will not let three games determine how we play the rest of the season. We only get one year with this team, and we're going to get the most out of it.

This team is special and has perspective on the game that many players don't receive until their softball careers are over. We know what it's like to have our season ripped away from us: we know that every game we play is a gift and cannot be taken for granted. Everyone in our program has made their fair share of sacrifices because of our collective want and need to play this game. As a team, we understand that this season is different; this season is shorter, the series are longer, but the game is still the same. We know we're the underdog in most cases but there is a reason why we have and will continue to have a great season: other teams expect to win, my team works to win.

P.S. Who doesn't like an underdog??