Fresh off back-to-back 30-plus win seasons for the first time in program history, Austin Peay State University's softball team heads into the 2020 season with high expectations and a work ethic to match. This is 'Dugout Dish' blog where each student-athlete on the team will take an opportunity to write a post highlighting the goings on of the squad, beginning with fall training and continuing all the way through the 2020 season.

Hi, I'm Maddie Boykin and I'm a freshman infielder from Dixon, California.

I chose Austin Peay because when I came on my unofficial visit it felt like home. It was the football game I went too that Austin Peay won, getting a win for the first time in two years, and then when everyone ran out on the field that was the moment, I knew this is where I wanted to be.

Now I have been at Austin Peay for 11 weeks and our fall season recently ended, and we are back to eight-hour weeks. 

Fall season was fun and I learned so much in team practice. I was not able to practice fully due to injury, but I really got to watch and learn from other people.

Even though not being able to play isn't the most fun, I am happy I had a chance to learn from my teammates and make myself a better player each day. 

We only have two more weeks of 6 a.m. workouts before we start the OVC challenge. 

The OVC challenge is when we are given challenges of physical events and we will not know the events until the challenges start, but I watched the videos on the team's Instagram from last year so I have a good idea of what could be coming.  

I am excited to see what team I'll be drafted to on Friday!