Iowa State (22-15) will head back out to the diamond at 4 p.m. Tuesday for the first of two games against Drake. The Cyclones will try to rebound from two straight losses against No. 13 Oklahoma. Drake (20-11) is coming off a 5-0 loss to Wichita State.

With a win, Iowa State would need only three more victories to equal its win total from 2009 and is already on track to win 30 games in a season for the first time since 1989, when the Cyclones went 32-18-1.

The Cyclones and Bulldogs met in the earlier part of the season in the Metrodome Tournament in Minneapolis with Iowa State prevailing with a 5-2 victory.

Coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler feels that getting her team back in the batting cage is key to being prepared for its home-away split with the Bulldogs this week.

“I think just coming in here today and getting some good cuts in is important,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “We’re going in feeling relaxed for the game tomorrow, and knowing that we’ve seen all their pitchers this year makes us feel confident in our ability to play against them.”

The Cyclones also started preparing for the high number of dropball pitches the Bulldogs might throw at them.

“It’s going to be important to know how their defense is set up and what they are going to be throwing at and knowing how to handle all of it,” said sophomore outfielder Heidi Kidwell. “That’s what has worked in the past against them, so we’re going to try to keep that going.”

Iowa State has won the last three meetings with the Bulldogs.

The Cyclones’ offense shouldn’t have as much trouble putting runs on the board as it did against the Sooners last weekend, who had a strong pitching core and a different style than what Iowa State is accustomed to.

“We just usually score a lot more than two runs in two games,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “I think that we had some issues getting some people on base and obviously scoring runs.”

Iowa State holds a slight scoring edge in the teams’ previous three matchups, 9-8. Senior outfielder Courtney Wray feels that the team’s success with putting runs on the board against them will continue this week.

“We hit their pitcher pretty well,” Wray said. “They only have one dominating pitcher and we’ve seen her a lot. A lot of our girls have gotten hits against her and that should bring confidence in their next at-bats tomorrow and Thursday.”

Iowa State will try to continue to excel in its game plan as it has the past two times the Cyclones and Bulldogs have played. Drake took them deep into the ballgame and it took a deep fly ball to finally finish them off.

“Its always going to be a good game against Drake,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “Against Iowa, against UNI, against everybody that we play against in the state. I think the last two times that we’ve played them, we’ve been able to execute and been able to score while holding their offense back and we were able to win.”