Thursday, May 17: So, the team we're playing Friday is staying in the same hotel as us.

I got stuck in a very awkward elevator ride with some of their players this morning. I mean, do you say: "Hey! Good luck tomorrow" or "How bout that weather?" No. I was at a complete loss of words. So, in an attempt to stop the awkward silence, I talked about the only thing we all had in common: the jackhammering early in the morning. A couple of chuckles later, we were at the ground floor, parting ways to our practices.

We arrived at UCLA's stadium an hour early and were escorted to a designated practice field to stay before our scheduled hour began. We were expecting to warm up on a softball field outside the main stadium. Instead, we found ourselves warming up next to an organic vegetable garden and some flower beds. Don't get me wrong, it was a very nice field, quite adequate for what we needed to do — stretch, throw, maybe some yoga — but not what we expected.

After we finished warming up, we marched toward the stadium. We were greeted by a manager who held us at the gate until our allotted time. Then, very quickly, we walked to our dugout, where some ESPN staff were checking their cameras. We got all the helmets, bats and equipment set up and started our practice the way we ran through it the other day. It looked even better than yesterday. The girls' throws were on target, adrenaline was flowing, cheering all over the place, home runs galore. Coach said "we're ready to play tomorrow."

Hawai'i is on the map. Now it's our job to keep it on there.