The Illinois baseball team hasn’t changed its daily routine much over the past three weeks.

With the exception of three practices, the team has prepared for the 2015 season inside the Irwin Indoor practice facility. Hearing the buzzing of the protective netting slowly dropping to the turf and carrying the artificial mound to the 50-yard line has become the norm for the players.

Although habits aren’t always bad, most of the team is ready to break this one. Players are grateful to practice in such a nice facility, but there’s nothing better than playing outside in the warm sunshine.

“We’re ready to be done with practice. We’re ready to go out there and start playing,” infielder Ryne Roper said with a smile. “Everybody’s ready to go. Everyone’s excited, ready to go outside for some warm weather.”

The Illini will have an opportunity to get out in the sun this weekend when they travel to Beaumont, Texas, to start the season at Lamar University’s Cardinal Classic. Illinois will open with two games against New Mexico State and follow with two games against host Lamar.

With an experienced team, players know the importance of starting the season on the right note. The Illini had a short postseason last year — losing in the third round of the Big Ten tournament and failing to qualify for the NCAA tournament. They know a February loss means just as much as an April loss.

Illinois has looked sharp since the first day of practice, and the team is aware games aren’t won on talent alone. Players need to be in the right mindset to make the critical plays that win games.

For head coach Dan Hartleb, the players’ mindset is the difference between a good team and a great one.

“We need to do a great job from a mental standpoint,” Hartleb said. “The best teams are strong mentally when they hit some adversity or they get late in games and things get tight. They play in that relaxed state, and they stay up, play at a high level and get their jobs done.”

Hartleb guaranteed that he’ll put the players who are in the right mental state on the field this weekend against the Aggies and Cardinals. New Mexico State finished with a 23-31 record last season and Lamar finished at 31-25, so the weekend presents the Illini with an opportunity to get some quality wins to start the season.

Hartleb’s players will need to take quality at-bats and not rely on their talented pitching if they want to win. The head coach mentioned that all his starters will be on a pitch count to make sure that no one throws his arm out in the opening weekend.

Simulated at-bats and catching fly balls while staring at a ceiling can only reveal so much about a team. Preseason accolades and projections can only show so much. The time has come to finally see how good this Illinois baseball team will be.

“We want to be tested and see where we’re at,” senior right fielder Will Krug said. “It’s a measure of where we’ll be at more than anything, which I’m looking forward to.”

Michal can be reached at [email protected] and @mdwojak94.