The Iowa State softball team has released its fall exhibition schedule, which includes matchups against area schools. 

The action will begin on Sept. 15 at 1 p.m. in Ames as the Cyclones take on the Kirkwood Eagles. 

Following that game, the Cyclones will return to Ames the next weekend to clash against the North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) Trojans and Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) Bears. 

Iowa State will then head to Des Moines on Sept. 27 to begin a three-day series of games against fellow Division I in-state schools Drake, Northern Iowa (UNI) and Iowa. 

The Cyclones played all three of those schools during the past regular season, defeating Northern Iowa and Iowa by the score of 2-0 but falling to Drake 5-6 in eight innings.

They will cap off the short-season at home as the Cyclones battle former Big 12 rival Nebraska in a doubleheader on Oct. 6. 

The fall schedule is a time where the Cyclones will get a good look at their incoming six freshmen and re-examine certain aspects of the returning squad after graduating eight seniors this past spring. 

The Cyclones are coming off a year where they finished 37-25 (7-11 Big 12), and went on to lose in the championship game of the NSIC (National Softball Invitational Championship), which is another postseason tournament for teams that missed out on the NCAA Tournament. 

This year, the Cyclones will be looking to continue their steady upward improvement and vie for an NCAA Tournament bid under coach Jamie Pinkerton, who is coming into his third season at the helm.