Outhit, outfield and outpitch.

Those are the goals the Cyclones strive for. Over the weekend, however, they achieved all three of those things in both games against Texas and still came away with a pair of losses — 4-2 in eight innings on Saturday and 5-1 on Sunday.

Iowa State outhit the Longhorns 10-5 on Saturday and 8-6 on Sunday, and the Cyclones committed just one error over the weekend to Texas’ four — two in each game.

Head coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler feels the main thing holding the team back is the offense not quite finishing.

“It’s great to be in the position to say, ‘We had the people on, and we had our chances, we just didn’t make the opportunities work out in our favor,’” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “And I think that’s what it is. If you leave 12 people on base and you only score two runs you really aren’t giving yourself the best chance.”

The Cyclones will need to get more timely hits with runners in scoring position in order to start winning those close games.

“It’s difficult to practice,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler. “You can put runners on in a practice situation and feel what it’s like, but it is not quite the same.”

Gemeinhardt-Cesler believes that the team may put too much pressure on themselves when they are batting with runners on board, causing them to leave those runners on base.

“I think that our team wants to do well very badly, and they sometimes try too hard,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said.

Another Cyclone on the DL

Iowa State’s leading hitter, sophomore Carleigh Berry, went on the disabled list last Tuesday when she had her appendix removed.

The team is not sure when she will return.

“They said 10 days before she can really start to do anything, and then she has to ease into it,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said.

Berry has gotten off to a good start to the season, hitting .319 on the year — .137 higher then her average during her freshman campaign.

Gemeinhardt-Cesler, however, is confident that freshmen outfielders Bianca Lopez, who has been taking over in the field for Berry, and Heidi Kidwell, who moved from the ninth spot in the batting order to Berry’s vacated second spot in the order, can fill in for Berry in her absence.

“I don’t ever want anybody to get hurt and have to miss games, but at the same time, I think it’s a great opportunity to have Bianca get the experience and to have Heidi get the experience at the top of the line-up,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said.

Kennewell makes her debut

Freshman pitcher Lauren Kennewell, who broke her arm before the season, threw her first pitches in a collegiate game on Sunday, taking over for sophomore pitcher Rachel Zabriskie in the sixth inning. She allowed just one hit in a scoreless inning.

“I’m really proud of her, she has waited a long time to throw, and to ask her to throw late in the game, when she is from Flower Mound [Texas], which isn’t too far from Austin,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “It’s just a lot of excitement for a freshman and I thought she handled it really well.”