KU shortstop Chaley Brickey smiles as the KU softball team was on hand on Tuesday, May 12, 2015 at Rock Chalk Park to talk about heading to regional play at the University of Missouri.

A few weeks ago, Kansas University softball senior Maddie Stein outlined a “Heading for Home” mantra for the Jayhawks to follow to the end the season.

At the time, no one knew that getting home would lead the Jayhawks to Columbia, Missouri, for the second straight postseason. But now that they’re headed back to the land of their Border War rivals to open regional play at 4 p.m. Friday against Louisville, it’s redemption that is on the minds of the Jayhawks, who finished 1-2 and saw their season come to an end at the same field a season ago.

“I like to hear that,” said KU coach Megan Smith, who guided the Jayhawks to a 38-13 record this spring. “That’s grit right there, wanting to get back at ’em and wanting to do something more than we did last year. We’re not just happy to be going to a regional. We want to go and make some noise.”

At first base of Stein’s cutout of the base paths was a simple objective — win the remaining mid-week games. Done. KU won its final three non-weekend games.

At second base was a more lofty goal — take at least one or two in back-to-back showdowns with Oklahoma and Baylor. The Jayhawks won the opener and were competitive in four of the next five games.

After that, at third base, was the goal of sweeping Iowa State in the regular-season finale. The Jayhawks did just that, drubbing the Cyclones by a combined score of 29-6 in three games in Ames, Iowa.

At home plate was a spot in a regional. And although the Jayhawks did not officially learn they were in until Sunday night, they felt much better about their chances this time around than they did a year ago. And even that fact has these players believing they’re more poised for success during this trip to Columbia.

“We’ve been there, so we know what the pressure’s like, and we know what we’re looking forward to,” junior infielder Chaley Brickey said. “It’s like a second chance.”

Added Smith: “One of the benefits of going back to Missouri is we’ve been there, we know the drill, and we’re more comfortable, which, hopefully, will let us relax a little more.”

With a potential showdown against Missouri looming, it’s easy to see how KU’s focus could drift just a bit toward a match-up with the Tigers. But both Smith and her players said they’re not thinking about their former Big 12 foe this week.

“We just have to focus on ourselves,” senior Chanin Naudin said. “The second you start looking at who the opponent might be, the more you become distracted.”

Smith said keeping MU in the future would be a piece of cake because KU’s opening game against Louisville presents such a challenge.

“Louisville’s a tough team and our girls know that,” Smith said. “Louisville’s going to be a tough test. They’re a similar team to us, high-caliber pitching, great offense. So, for us, it strictly is all about Louisville and we’ll worry about the next team when we get there.”