The ISU softball team heads to Iowa City on Wednesday to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes.

The Cyclones (19-19, 1-7 Big 12) will be faced with the tough task of giving the Hawkeyes their first home loss of the season.

Iowa (24-16, 7-3 Big Ten) is 6-0 this season when playing at Bob Pearl Softball Field in Iowa City.

“It’s always a good game when it’s Iowa State and Iowa and they are playing really pretty well right now,” said ISU coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler. “We just need to go in there and play our game and we’ll be fine.”

This young Cyclone club is hoping to build on a two-game road trip to Austin, Texas this past weekend in which they held their own against the No. 3 Longhorns, but failed to pick up a win.

The Cyclones have fared well during in-state games this season, beating Drake three times and losing one game to Northern Iowa before blasting the Panthers in the second game of the series in Ames.

Now the ISU players want to prove they’re the best in the state.

“I always love playing Iowa. I know it’s at Iowa City but still I think we can beat them and hopefully come out as the best team in Iowa right now,” said ISU first baseman Erica Miller. “Definitely bragging rights are on the line and just being able to say you’re the best team in Iowa, that would be awesome.”

To get those bragging rights, the Cyclones will have to go through a Hawkeye team that has reeled off three straight wins in the Big Ten.

Iowa State will also have to deal with this week’s Big Ten player of the week, Hawkeye catcher Liz Watkins. In four games this past week, Watkins had a .625 batting average with an .800 on-base percentage to go with seven RBI’s.

For the 10 freshmen on the Cyclones’ roster, this will be the first taste of the Cyclone-Hawkeye rivalry.

“We really want it because that means that we’re the best team in Iowa so that is nerve-wracking,” said ISU freshman right-fielder Anna Cole. “We have to go in with the mindset that it’s just another game, but I can tell Coach G [Gemeinhardt-Cesler] really wants this one.”

In case the Cyclones needed any more added incentive for beating the Hawkeyes, the all-time series currently stands even with a 30-30-1 record.

The game will be played this Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Bob Pearl Field in Iowa City.