The ISU softball team bounced back from a rough spring break with a sweep of Western Illinois.

Iowa State (22-11) will take a three-game winning streak into its rivalry matchup with Northern Iowa (10-12) after beating Western Illinois, 4-1 and 3-1, on Tuesday.

The Cyclones were coming off a tough spring break stretch during which they went 2-7. The team’s struggles seemed to stem largely from the team’s poor offensive output.

Their Cyclones racked up seven runs in the doubleheader against Western Illinois – their total over the preceding six games.

“I think we are concerned offensively because we have been struggling a little bit during spring break, but I thought they did a better job of hitting the ball hard, even when it didn’t leave the park – so that is a good sign,” said assistant coach Gary Hines.

Sophomore catcher Alex Johnson said she felt the offense suffered because of a lack of confidence but that they’ve gotten that back over the last three games.

“We can’t let our heads get big, but I’m really excited, playing two days in a row,” Johnson said. “We are excited, we are back on track. We didn’t have a very good spring break, but now we know we can beat Baylor, we can beat [Western Illinois] and we can beat anybody in the conference – so it is a confidence thing.”

Iowa State’s seven runs were the most the team has scored since losing leading hitter and third baseman Ariel Coburn. The senior, who is hitting .400, has been out of the lineup since last Tuesday with a broken wrist.

The Cyclones travel to Cedar Falls on Wednesday afternoon to play Northern Iowa – making two series and four games in 24 hours.

“We traveled so much, so we might be a little tired, but I’m not too concerned about it,” Hines said.

Johnson seemed even less worried about playing back-to-back doubleheaders than her coach.

“I’m really excited about it – just because we have such high confidence right now and we are really working together as a team, so it feels really good,” Johnson said. “It’s fun to play – I would rather play than practice.”

The Cyclones have now had more than a week to adjust to the absence of head coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler, who has been on leave while pregnant with twins, but assistant coaches Hines and Crystal Turner have stepped up and taken over the team in her absence.

“They treat everybody just as equally as Coach G did. They are really supportive and motivating, and they know that we can do it,” Johnson said.

While the assistants have been flooded extra work, they feel they are performing well.

“I think, on the field, we are doing pretty well between the two of us” Hines said. “We have been on the road so long, it’s hard to tell how we are doing in the office – but we are working on it every day, and that’s what we ask of [the players] and that’s what we are asking of ourselves – to get the job done and get better at it each time out, and I think we are doing that.”