The ISU softball team heads to Springfield, Mo., this weekend for a three-game series against Missouri State. The Cyclones (6-11) are coming off a pair of wins against UTEP and Brown at the UTEP Invitational last weekend.

The Cyclones are 7-8 all-time against the Bears (8-4) and earned a 6-5 victory the last time the two teams met back in 2009. The Bears are coming off a 3-1 loss to No. 13 Missouri last weekend.

MSU senior pitcher Natalie Rose is 4-0 this season with 43 strikeouts and a 0.85 ERA through 41.1 innings of work. The Cyclones respect her prowess on the mound.

“She’s done very well,” said ISU coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler. “It’s going to be critical that we have a plan when we’re up at the plate and hit good pitches when they’re thrown.”

The Cyclones have focused much of their game plan on Rose and her ability.

“We’ve been trying to practice for what she throws,” said junior Erica Miller. “If we can get to her and start hitting her hard and they put someone else in, then we can score more runs that way. So just get past her, and we’ll be all right.”

This weekend’s series marks the first non-tournament weekend for Iowa State this season. The Cyclones see the change of pace as a new challenge.

“It’s hard to beat a team three times,” Miller said. “We’re going in there confident we’re going to beat them three times, especially with [Rose], she can’t pitch all three games, so maybe by the second or third game we’ll get to her for sure.”

Series play offers a greater opportunity for the Cyclones to become more familiar with opponents.

“It will be a little different, but we’ll get to know their pitchers and their hitters,” said sophomore Jennifer Drahozal. “That should help us out each and every game that we play them, compared to just playing them once and then not seeing them again.”

The Cyclones hope the momentum from last weekend’s pair of wins against UTEP and Brown will continue to roll into this weekend’s series.

“I’m just hoping it will give us more confidence at the plate,” Miller said. “We’ll just take those at-bats, and we know we can do it and just get on them early and stay on them the whole game.”

However, Gemeinhardt-Cesler said she knows that momentum does not always carry as it seems it should.

“I hope that they feel more confident,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “They should, but what I think that they should feel isn’t always what ends up translating out there. But that’s my hope.”

The Cyclones play games at noon and 2 p.m. Saturday followed by a noon game Sunday to wrap up the weekend.