The ISU softball team has fallen into a slump, going 1-9 through its last two tournaments. The women will try turn that around at the Great Western Downtown Plaza Classic this weekend in Tulsa, Okla.

Coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler attributes her team’s struggles to its mental approach.

“I think that initially we came out and thought that things were going to be a lot easier than what they were, and I think that once we struggled a little bit, people really started to press,” she said.

“We had a lot of upperclassmen pressing. Now we just have to go back and focus on the fundamentals, and good things will happen when we work hard.”

The players believe it is more of a mental problem than anything physical, as well.

“I think our mental approach needs to be different,” said senior catcher Ashley Killeen. “We need to quit focusing on the bad things and just focus on what we can do.”

The team is focusing on changing that approach this week in practice.

“I think that we have done some things differently during practice,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “We focus a lot on what we think about before we get in the box and what we think about after we either have success or failure. We really need to fix those things that are going on.”

The team’s goals for this tournament are to start playing better and getting more players on track.

“We really just want to play well,” said senior outfielder Katie Reichling. “If we play as well as we are capable of, I think the wins will fall in place.”

The Cyclones, however, think they have already started making strides toward breaking from their slump.

“Charissa Carlin, the freshman pitcher, threw really pretty well,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “She made a few mistakes at times, but overall she did a great job. I thought that our defense was a lot better.

“I thought that Kristy Olsen made some great adjustments at the plate and she had some success because of that. So I definitely think there are some things that we are doing right. We need to do a lot more things better.”

The Cyclones also have a possible individual honor to look forward to. Last season Killeen set a new ISU record for RBI in a season with 40, and despite a slow start this season, she is just three RBI away from the ISU career record of 88. She and her teammates, however, are more focused on winning.

“Right now, in the near future, it’s really not that important to me,” Killeen said.

“But I suppose later on it might be pretty cool.”

Killeen said the best thing about getting the record this weekend would be that it would mean the team is scoring runs and hopefully winning.

“It’s always fun to set record and all that, but starting to win is the most important thing,” she said.