The Cyclones hit a bump this weekend in Georgia.

Iowa State (7–9) went 1–4 in the Georgia Tournament in Athens, losing to South Alabama, No. 8 Georgia, St. John’s and Georgia again Friday and Saturday before coming back with a big 11–3 win over Charleston Southern on Sunday.

The Cyclones came into the weekend above .500. Even their losses had been close, but they ran into trouble this weekend, as Iowa State was outscored 31–17 at the Georgia Tournament.

“We just didn’t play well,” said coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler. “We didn’t hit like we had been hitting, we didn’t do a very good job keeping the ball in the park pitching-wise and I don’t even think our approach was very good.”

Defensively, the Cyclones seemed to have trouble with the hard surface on which Georgia plays. Through the five games, Iowa State had nine errors, equaling its season total from the first 11 games.

“Our defense had a really hard time with the field conditions at Georgia,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “But even though it wasn’t what we were accustomed to, or what they thought was ideal, the other team is playing on the same surface.”

Gemeinhardt-Cesler was disappointed that the team let the conditions bother it as much as it did.

“There are always uncontrollable factors that you are dealing with in softball,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said, citing umpires, cold weather and wind as possible examples. “The way that you have to approach it is, ‘We are still going to be better than the other team.’ Even though we don’t necessarily feel comfortable in a situation, we can still use it to our advantage.”

She thought her team could have had the upper hand last weekend given the condition of the field, but the Cyclones did not execute.

“We have a lot of fast people, a lot of people that can hit the ball into the ground, and we didn’t — we hit the ball in the air,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said.

To the Cyclones’ credit, they were able to come back strong Sunday, jumping all over Charleston Southern with a 7–0 lead after the first inning.

The team thinks the win is important to get Iowa State back on track as the Cyclones begin practice this week.

Although 1–4 is not what they were hoping for, the Cyclones are remaining optimistic.

“I have confidence in the team,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “It is a setback that they are well aware of. You have to be good enough to fight through that and come out on the other side with some success.”