The ISU softball team lost all three of its games at Texas Tech this past weekend. The Cyclones (10-22, 0-6 Big 12) have started the Big 12 schedule 0-6 for the first time since the 2006-07 season.

Iowa State was outscored 30-12 on the weekend by the Red Raiders (30-7, 3-2 Big 12), the third-ranked offensive team in the conference. The weekend got off to a rough start for the Cyclones, as they fell by a score of 19-7 in five innings Friday evening. ISU pitcher Tori Torrescano allowed six runs in 1.2 innings of work.

“We gave up a ton of runs, tons of hits,” said ISU coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler. “I talked to Tori a little bit after the game, just trying to get her reset, refocused about the task at hand and what needs to happen.”

Iowa State would do its best to turn things around as the weekend progressed, but still failed to pick up a victory in the close contests that would follow. Texas Tech took Saturday’s game 6-2 and Sunday’s game 5-3 in eight innings.

“Saturday was better, which is great,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “We didn’t win, but I thought that they definitely made strides throughout the weekend.”

The Cyclones recorded three errors in the field Saturday that would prove very important in the game’s outcome.

“You always want to eliminate errors,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “It definitely hurts when you’re playing teams that anything that they can capitalize on they take advantage of.”

The Cyclones are currently the worst-ranked defensive team in the Big 12 with a .964 fielding percentage. They have finished in the bottom two in the Big 12 in terms of fielding percentage eight of the last nine seasons.

ISU junior Erica Miller extended her hitting streak to four games Sunday, finished the weekend 4-for-9 and currently leads the team with a .374 batting average, 10th best in the Big 12.

Iowa State is the only team in the Big 12 that has yet to pick up a conference win so far this season. As the season progresses, that first win can begin to seem more and more elusive for the Cyclones.

“It’s going to come,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “We just need to keep on buckling down and getting better every time.”

The Cyclones travel to Omaha, Neb., on Wednesday to take on Creighton. This weekend, they play host to Texas A&M for a three-game series in Ames.