On Friday, Iowa State will compete in the 2019 Big 12 softball tournament in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where it will face Oklahoma State and the Texas Longhorns.

The Cyclones, who have a record of 31-22 (7-11 Big 12), are the 5 seed and in Pool B with the 2 seed Oklahoma State and 3 seed Texas in the Big 12 tournament.

“I’m really glad that we have another shot against Texas and Oklahoma State because in our regular season series we didn’t play up to our potential against them,” said senior pitcher Emma Hylen.

Iowa State will begin the tournament with a matchup against Texas at 2 p.m. Friday on field three at USA Hall of Fame Stadium Complex. The game will be streamed live on FloSoftball.

“We ended the regular season on a high note so going into the Big 12 tournament; hopefully we’ll keep on rolling, and I have confidence that we’ll play better the second time around against these teams [Texas and Oklahoma State],” said junior shortstop and All-Big 12 first team player Sami Williams.

Texas has a record of 41-12 (12-6 Big 12) this season.

The Longhorns are coming into the Big 12 tournament riding a five-game winning streak.

Texas has won the last seven games against the Cyclones and hold a 53-3 series lead.

In their regular season series, the Longhorns outscored the Cyclones 24-3 in three games and swept the series.

“We have to limit the number of times we were struck out and we definitely have to play the defense that we are capable of playing,” said Iowa State assistant coach Courtney Martinez. “You can’t give teams like Texas the opportunities that we did in the first series and we need to put the pressure on them.”

Following their matchup with the Longhorns, the Cyclones will face Oklahoma State. First pitch between Iowa State and Oklahoma State is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday.

Oklahoma State is 37-14 (13-5 Big 12) and won all three regular season games against Iowa State despite trailing the Cyclones after the second inning in two games.

“We’ve got to match their hitting,” Martinez said. “They’re a great hitting team and our pitchers do a hell of a job, but we’ve got to put up the runs that we need because they are [Oklahoma State] going to score.”

Oklahoma State has won the last four out of five games against the Cyclones and have a 76-24 series lead.

On Saturday, the winners of Pool A and Pool B will meet in the Big 12 Championship, the second place team in each pool will play in the third-place game and the last place team in each pool will play in the fifth-place game.

Iowa State has lost their last eight Big 12 tournament games in a row and haven’t won a Big 12 tournament game in their previous three appearances.

“We have got to find a way to shift our mindset from the pressure is on us to it’s on them and were the ones with the weapons,” said Iowa State head coach Jamie Pinkerton.