The ISU softball team won two of its four games at the UTEP Invitational in El Paso, Texas, over the weekend, including a 17-3 victory over Brown on Sunday morning.

The Cyclones (6-11) began the weekend by losing to Valparaiso on Friday afternoon and Texas-San Antonio on Saturday morning. They turned things around as the weekend progressed, however, defeating UTEP on Saturday afternoon and Brown on Sunday morning.

“Could be better, could be worse,” said ISU coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler. “All in all, I think there’s some positive, but I think there’s obviously still things we need to be working on.”

Mental preparation adjustments made a difference for the Cyclones as the weekend progressed, said junior Erica Miller.

“I don’t think we came out excited enough to play against UTSA,” Miller said. “The next two games, that’s one thing we tried to do more, is just come out more excited and ready to play.”

The adjustments paid off, as the Cyclones earned a 17-3 victory over Brown (1-4) on Sunday, displaying a spark that fans have seldom seen this season.

“It just all kind of came together,” Miller said. “We were able to hit whatever pitcher they threw at us. “

“I think that hitting’s a contagious thing,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “One person’s doing it, a couple others start getting on, and they can really run away with it.”

Miller, junior Tori Torrescano and freshman Lexi Slater each hit two home runs against Brown on Sunday. The trio combined for nine hits and 12 RBIs against the Bears, and currently combines for a .359 batting average on the season.

Slater tied the Iowa State single-game RBI record as she drove in six runs against the Bears on Sunday. She is currently second on the team with 15 RBIs this season.

Now that the Cyclones see what they are capable of, confidence is building.

“That was really the first game this season that we really saw that everyone in the lineup can score, everyone in the lineup can hit,” Miller said. “It just will build our confidence more. We’ve been kind of struggling with that a little bit.”

“We don’t have to play like we did against Brown every time,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “We just have to play somewhere in the middle of what we’ve been playing.”

The Cyclones have 12 games remaining between now and the Big 12 opener against Texas on Friday, March 23. They travel to Springfield, Mo. this weekend for three games against Missouri State.