The Cyclones bested in-state rivals Iowa and Drake en route to a 3–3 showing at the Metrodome Tournament this weekend in Minneapolis. The tournament seemed to hold ups and downs for every team as the best record — 3–2, was not all that far from the worst — 2–3. The even competition throughout the weekend exposed the Cyclones to many of the situations that they will face all year long.

“We played when we were ahead and had to keep the lead, we lost the lead and came back, we played from behind and came back, we even saw international tiebreakers,” coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “All those things are really going to help us as we go through the season.”

The ISU offense was strong all weekend long hitting .307 as a team and averaging five runs per game. They were led by sophomore Heidi Kidwell, who hit .500, including 11 hits for the tournament. The highlight of the weekend was the pair of wins over in-state rivals. Iowa State opened the weekend with a 5–2 victory over the Bulldogs.

The win was the first victory over Drake in more than a year. The Bulldogs also gave the Cyclones a loss in their last preseason game of the fall, 4–1.

After two straight one-point losses, the Cyclones jumped all over Iowa, taking a 4–0 lead after just one inning. Iowa State went on to beat the Hawkeyes 8–2.

The win over Iowa was the first such win for every player or coach since coming to Iowa State. Gemeinhardt-Cesler, now in her fifth year at Iowa State, was pleased with the in-state wins, but lukewarm about the weekend overall.

“It means a lot to us,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said of the wins over Iowa and Drake. “I don’t think that they are satisfied with being 3–3 out of the weekend. I think that in hindsight they know that they could have done better.”

The games that Iowa State did lose were hotly contested, as they lost all three games by a combined four runs. Gemeinhardt-Cesler blamed early season mistakes in batting, base running and pitching for those close losses. She feels, however, that all those mistakes are fixable.

“Being aware of them early, I think gives us a better chance to fix them,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said.

Iowa State also had a chance to show off a couple new players in freshmen Tori Torrescano and Erica Miller.

Torrescano will likely be the team’s second starter this season, despite struggling a little with a 5.25 era in her first college tournament. Gemeinhardt-Cesler thinks she’s shown improvement already.

“She still needs to work ahead of batters more consistently, just so she is not constantly digging herself out of a hole,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “Her overall composure got better, even if someone was able to hit the ball hard, she was able to come back better as the week went on. She was finishing her pitches better than she was in the beginning. I think there was a little bit of hesitancy on her part and that just comes from not wanting to get hit. That is pretty natural for a freshman, but it’s definitely something that she is going to have to get past.”

Miller got off to a fast start for the Cyclones. The freshman played in all six games, starting five of them as the designated player. She was productive at the plate hitting .353, collecting five RBI’s, and belting her first career home run in the first inning against Iowa.