Head coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler was trying to send her team a message last Tuesday when she shuffled around the entire starting line up.

She said she felt like the team was stuck in a rut and she didn’t want to continue in that direction.

Despite the 10-0 loss to Nebraska that resulted from the line-up change, the team seems to have taken that message to heart.

“After the game on Tuesday, against Nebraska, we just knew that we needed to make some changes, so we came out Thursday pretty aggressively and that kind of helped us gain our confidence back,” said junior third baseman Courtney Wray.

Since then, the Cyclones have won two of three games, and have scored nine runs — two more runs than Iowa State scored during the seven-game losing streak that sparked the line up change.

On Sunday, the team looked as aggressive as ever. Junior first baseman Sydni Jones set the tone early as she ran and dove for a foul ball on the first pitch of the game.

Although the ball landed just out of reach, that play was a preview of the hustle and intensity that the Cyclones showed throughout the game.

The Cyclones exhibited that aggressive nature in more than just defense.

Offensively, Gemeinhardt-Cesler said the team was more aggressive at the plate, exhibited by Alex Johnson’s at bat in the fifth inning.

Johnson came to the plate with no outs and a runner on first and second. Then she belted the first pitch — a pitch Gemeinhardt-Cesler said Johnson doesn’t like to swing at — into the gap between right and center field, scoring both runners.

The Cyclones were even aggressive on the base paths, stealing a base, attempting to steal another, and scoring twice from first base on a double, although Gemeinhardt-Cesler said that is nothing new.

“We are always aggressive at base running — sometimes you don’t really get to see it because we haven’t had a lot of people on base,” she said.

Although Gemeinhardt-Cesler was pleased with the way the team played on Sunday, she seemed a little bit perplexed as to its cause.

“We try our best to prepare the same way every single time, and if I had to go back and say what was different this time, honestly, I couldn’t tell you,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “I’m just happy that they were aggressive today and I hope they do the same thing on Wednesday.”

Although Gemeinhardt-Cesler seemed unsure why the team was performing well, Johnson had a few ideas to explain the aggressive style.

“I just think that we were more relaxed, and when you’re relaxed, you’re more assertive and aggressive,” Johnson said.

She said they were able to relax because they felt confident going into the second game of the series.

Despite the fact that Iowa State was held to just four hits in eight innings, Johnson said the team was encouraged by how they hit.

“We came out yesterday hitting the ball, just not the middle of it, and we talked about that yesterday after the game,” Johnson said. “We just came in today with the mentality that we know we can, and that’s what we did.”

Iowa State takes on  Missouri Wednesday in Columbia, Miss.