Western softball coach Tyra Perry will get to see old friends and revisit familiar territory today.

But her main focus isn’t on seeing familiar faces and places, but on beating Alabama-Birmingham.

Perry will make her second return to Birmingham since leaving Birmingham Southern to take over coaching duties at Western before last season.

While there are memories in returning to the city where she spent six years of her career as the coach of Birmingham Southern, Perry said that doesn’t change her focus.

“It’s just another team,” Perry said. “We’re conditioned to just think about playing our game. That’s basically what we’re going to do whether we are in Birmingham, Kentucky, or wherever.”

Despite the focus on the game, Perry is expecting to see a few old friends and fans at the game.

“(UAB Head coach) Marla (Townsend) is a good friend of mine,” Perry said. “She was very helpful to me when I started at Birmingham Southern, so it will be good to see her. At Birmingham Southern, we used to play UAB quite a bit, so it’s familiar territory.”

The Lady Toppers (18-11) with some connections to the city of Birmingham are more concerned with returning the favor and hope to beat UAB in response to when the Lady Toppers were swept last April.

Sophomore utility player Brittney Perry, Coach Perry’s sister, is one who is looking forward to the trip to Birmingham.

“It reminds me the last time we went (played UAB) – we lost,” Perry said. “We’re ready to get revenge.”

Western’s game with UAB tonight ends a six-day stretch where the Lady Toppers didn’t play a game because of an off-weekend and rained out game.

Tyra Perry said that the team used practice time well through the weekend that had no games.

“We were rained out against Evansville, and we had an open weekend, so we need to play,” Perry said. “We got some rest in between practices, and we worked really hard on Saturday, and the team did really well.”

Junior shortstop Brooke Reed, who played for two seasons at Birmingham Southern, is ready to get back on the field after an unusually long time away from actual game-play.

“I think the team has done well (with the break),” Reed said. “We have come to practice and worked hard every day to get better. We usually don’t take a day easy. We’re always coming out focused and determined to get better each day.”

The Lady Toppers travel to take on Alabama-Birmingham in a double-header at 5 p.m. tonight.