When Bryan Scholar decided on his game one starting pitcher this weekend, he didn’t go by stats, experience or scouting reports. Instead, the ISU Baseball Club president looked at something deeper.

“Just gut instinct,” Scholar said. “Hopefully it pays off.”

What his gut told him, was to start left hander Bryan Junge in the opener of the four-game series the Cyclones (1-1) begin with the University of South Dakota (2-1, 7-4) on Saturday afternoon.

Junge, now in his third year with the club, will take the mound when the club takes on the leader of the Central Plains Conference for doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday in South Dakota.

“I just feel confident with him pitching,” Scholar said. “I think he’s a good person for us to start the series off with.”

Junge will have to start off the series pitching well if the Cyclones hope to survive the weekend.

Iowa State’s 18-man roster, which includes only eight pitchers, will use four in their starting rotation this weekend, meaning Junge’s game one start could make or break the series for the Cyclones.

“It’s going to be important,” Junge said of his start. “Me going a lot of innings means I’m pitching well and we can probably get a win in that first game which is huge for the series. Whenever our starting pitching can go deep into games, that’s going to take some pressure off our relievers and give us more pitching options in the series.”

The four-games series in South Dakota will be the only matchup the Cyclones have with the conference leader this season. It’s also the first time the Cyclones have played since splitting a March 25 doubleheader with the Hawkeyes. Iowa, who held the Cyclones scoreless for the first four innings, eventually gave up six runs in the fifth inning and but still won 12-7. The Cyclones salvaged the day winning the second game 11-6, with Junge on the mound. Even with the three-week break, Scholar believes his team will make the same adjustments against South Dakota as they did against Iowa.

“We hadn’t seen any live pitching before Iowa and we still came out and hit the ball pretty well that series,” Scholar said.

Junge and the rest of the pitching staff will have to make adjustments as well. In their first two games against the Hawkeyes, the Cyclones pitching staff combined to allow 19 walks. In his win, the left hander alone issued seven free passes, something he hopes to avoid this weekend from practice bullpen sessions.

“I’ve been working to continue to improve my control and placement of pitches,” Junge said. “I’ve also been working on setting up pitches that I want to throw for strikes and get outs.”

As for Scholar’s gut instinct, Junge said its right on target – at least from his point of view.

“I’d agree with it,” he said.