Last year, Iowa State walked off the field in its last game, defeated in just five innings against Kansas. The Jayhawks scored 12 runs on the Cyclones while they only scored three, ending their season and hopes of making it to regionals.

The ISU softball team did not end the conference season as well as they would have hoped last year. The Cyclones lost the last eight conference games played, putting Iowa State’s record at 4-14 to end the season.

The games were practically blow-outs. The Cyclones scored a combined 19 runs in their last eight games while their opponents scored an astonishing 97.Last season, Iowa State tied with Texas Tech for last place in conference play.

“The past couple years we have been at the bottom because we have such a strong conference in softball. Oklahoma won national champion last year and Texas went to the World Series so we have a really strong conference. So I think a really good goal is to finish in the top half of our conference,” said sophomore infielder Aly Cappaert.

Last season, the Cyclones faced the top three Big 12 teams — Oklahoma, Baylor and Texas — on the road. This season, Iowa State will face these three teams at home.

“Last year, we had to go down to Oklahoma and Baylor and Texas to play. Now this year we have all those games at home. We can have our own crowd instead of their crowd. I think we have a huge advantage,” Cappaert said.

Right now Iowa State is ranked last in the conference going into Big 12 play. Winning only 17 of their last 26 games puts the Cyclones one step behind their conference competition. Iowa State will face Oklahoma — who has won 21-of-29 non-conference games — this weekend.

Iowa State might be the underdog but junior infielder Lexi Slater thinks the Cyclones can come out on top.

“One big advantage is [Oklahoma] underestimating us because of previous years,” Slater said. “I think that we will really surprise them this year and show that we can compete and come out with some wins.”

With facing the Big 12 teams comes higher competition. But the Cyclones think this may work in their favor.

“Sometimes we have a tendency to play at the level that we think our opponents are. We’re entering our conference that I think is a great conference. I’m excited to see the team playing at a higher level,” said ISU coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler.

Another advantage that the Cyclones have facing their conference opponents this year is the weather. They will face Oklahoma this weekend, a team that is not used to playing in the cold like Iowa State is.

Slater believes there is another advantage for her team. She views it as a more mental game with an emphasis on execution as necessary to be successful playing in the conference. 

Slater believes the Cyclones have played together as a team more this season compared to the previous season. She said last season they were kind of just there playing. This year, she believes, they communicate very well as a team and know what each other think.

“I expect to see a lot of cohesiveness and a lot of wins. I know we can play well and have a high potential we just have to bring it every game.” Slater said.