The ISU softball team will get its first taste of Big 12 action on home turf this Saturday and Sunday when they play host to the Cowgirls of Oklahoma State.

The Cyclones, who have been road warriors for the first six weeks of the season, swept a doubleheader with intrastate rival Northern Iowa on Wednesday in their first two home games of the year, giving them momentum to build on this weekend.

“Coming out and getting these two wins is going to help us a lot,” said head coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler. “It’s good to finally get some games at home, and the tough conference series we had last weekend is going to help prepare us for the rest of the conference schedule.”

Iowa State (19-24, 0-2 in the Big 12) dropped its first two Big 12 games with 4-1 and 8-0 losses to No. 3 Texas A&M in College Station last weekend. Even with the setback against A&M, the Cyclones have won seven of their last ten, and have seen rapid improvement over the last several weeks.

“After getting some games under our belt, things are starting to click for us,” said senior catcher Ashley Killeen. “We are definitely hitting the ball harder up and down the lineup, and after playing in the intense environment at A&M, I think we’ll be prepared for this weekend.”

Like the Cyclones, Oklahoma State (21-19, 0-2) dropped its first two conference games of the season with 4-3 and 2-0 losses to Kansas at home. This weekend the Cowgirls will be playing outside the state of Oklahoma for the first time in 11 games.

“This is a team we are pretty familiar with,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “We split with them in the regular season last year, and they beat us in the Big 12 Tournament. But the key for us this weekend, like every other series, is to come out focused and take care of the things we know we can control.”

Freshman Alex Johnson continues to swing the bat well for the Cyclones, as she broke the ISU freshman hit record in the Cyclones’ game one victory against UNI on Wednesday.

Senior pitcher Alyssa Ransom also found her way in to the record books against the Panthers, breaking a school record by notching her sixth career save in Wednesday’s 5-3 victory in game two.