A trip to Tuscaloosa awaiting, Washington ace pitcher Danielle Lawrie made sure to prepare the younger members of the Huskies’ pitching staff for what they’ll be facing in this weekend’s softball-crazy travel destination.

Because Lawrie — who is 12-0 with a jaw-dropping 0.18 ERA this season — won’t pitch every game this weekend for the Huskies, as proclaimed last week by head coach Heather Tarr. Her squad plays twice against Alabama, twice against No. 15 Georgia and begins the weekend with a game against No. 24 Baylor in the Easton SEC/Big 12/Pac-10 Challenge.

Enter Felecia Harris and Jenna Clifton, Washington’s two freshman hurlers who have each seen time in the circle this year.

“The main thing that I’m trying to stress to them is that you have to have confidence,” Lawrie said. “You have to have confidence that your defense is behind you and everyone out there supports you. Get some of that swagger and be proud that you’re out there in the circle and hit good spots and good things will happen.”

Want pressure? Try pitching against the No. 1 Alabama softball team in front of 2,500-plus crazed fans, all of whom would like nothing more than to watch the Tide dismantle a Pac-10 team of the Huskies’ caliber.

“I heard that it’s a crazy place,” Lawrie said. “They’re already supposedly sold out. It should be interesting. It’s fun when everyone’s against you. That’s kind of how I see it.”

And try doing it as a freshman.

“I’m nervous,” Harris said. “But at the same time I’m actually very, very confident because the team that I have behind me, they’re very supportive and I know that I wouldn’t be out there unless people believed in me.”

It only adds to this weekend’s intrigue that the Huskies are also regarded as the nation’s top-ranked team, holding down the top spot in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll for the second consecutive week. The Tide is No. 1 in the NFCA poll.

So it’s No. 1 against No. 1. Twice. And then there are the three other games against top-25 teams the Huskies have to deal with, as well.

“There’s not going to be a game you can kind of take it easy,” Tarr said. “We’ve got to maintain our top level of focus five games in a row.”

Reach reporter Christian Caple at sports@dailyuw.com.