The final contest of the 2008 Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk Series is here.

Iowa State already has the victory wrapped up over Iowa, 18-7, but the softball teams will decide the final score.

The Cyclones (23-13) hosts the Hawkeyes (21-11) in their rivalry series at the Southwest Athletic Complex at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

Although the rivalry is fierce across the state in most sports, the softball team tries not to get caught up in it.

“We try not to get their head messed up with all that,” said coach Crystal Turner. “We try not to talk about the rivalry because it’s just like any other team out there. We are going to come, and we are going to play, and we are going to go out and try to be our best that day. It doesn’t matter who it is, we are just going to come out and do our job.”

Despite the coaches’ efforts to downplay the rivalry, the players know what is at stake.

“It’s just kind of one of those things where you have to do it – you have to beat Iowa because that’s who they are and that’s who we are,” said sophomore second baseman Amanda Bradberry. “We aren’t going to lose to them.”

Iowa State did lose to Iowa earlier this year in an exhibition game in the fall. Iowa won the game 10-0. The Cyclones, however, feel they are a completely different team from who they were this fall.

Iowa State will be running into a hot Iowa team, however. The Hawkeyes have won three of their last four games, including a road split with No. 22 Ohio State.

“I think it always [affects the game] when you’re coming off of a high like that,” Turner said. “I always think it’s a good thing when you are winning and you come into a situation. It seems more comfortable and calm.”

The Cyclones, conversely, have been struggling as of late, having lost their last three, and are just 5-10 since the beginning of spring break.

“We just have to get it all to work at once,” said freshman pitcher Rachel Zabriskie. “We either have hitting, or we have defense, or we have pitching, but we always seem to leave one out lately.”

Of those three, the Cyclones’ offense seems to be the one that has broken down the most during that stretch. This can be partially explained by the injury to senior third baseman Ariel Coburn, but the Cyclones have been struggling for longer than she has been injured.

Bradberry feels the team is getting some hits – they just aren’t stringing them together and converting those runners into runs.

“It’s just getting the pitcher timed, getting things lined up and hitting it hard and getting the ball to fall in,” she said.

Overall, the Cyclones seem pretty confident for Tuesday’s game. Bradberry said she expects “a win; a pretty decisive win.”