Members of the ISU softball team say they’re disappointed after going 0-5 at the Ragin’ Cajuns Invitational last weekend. The Cyclones lost to Purdue twice, 16th-ranked Louisiana-Lafayette, No. 17 Baylor and Mississippi over three days of play.

“We really didn’t do anything very well,” said coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler. “We didn’t hit well, we didn’t execute. We didn’t pitch very well. When you have a lot of things that you don’t do very well then those things start to happen.

“We need to do a better job of being able to have some hiccups and being able to bounce back and we didn’t do that this weekend.”

Although this tournament was rough on the Cyclones, they believe it wasn’t necessarily an accurate assessment of their team.

“It wasn’t really exemplary of what we can do,” said senior second baseman Jennifer Bigbee. “I think we have a lot more to show than what we showed this last weekend.”

To prove what they’re capable of, the Cyclones are focused on a week of hard practice in preparation for this weekend’s Marriott Houston Hobby Invitational.

“Staying relaxed and on task I think will help us a lot,” Bigbee said.

“We know it’s there, we just have to put it into play when it’s needed.”

The team believes it already started to turn things around in the last game of the tournament. Although it lost 7-6 to Purdue, the players said they played a hard 12 innings before falling.

“We definitely did show up for that game and we were ready to play, and I think that’s going to carry on to next weekend,” Bigbee said. “We did a lot of great things. We hit better, we fielded better, our pitching was great and I think if we keep doing that we will be fine.”

The Cyclones are playing without a steady starting lineup. With so many new players, the team has been trying many different combinations of players.

“There have been a couple games this season where every single player that we’ve taken have played,” Gemienhardt-Cesler said.

“Right now, when no one is playing exceptionally well you mix things up and keep trying different things. A lot of people get opportunities and once people grab onto that opportunity and play well, they will most likely get to keep that spot.”

Some of those players who find their way into a starting role may very well be freshmen or upperclassmen with little experience at the college level.

“I think that the younger players are playing pretty well,” Gemienhardt-Cesler said. “I think they can do a lot better and I expect them to do that, but they have made a lot of adjustments and I think that they are starting to put that together.”

Gemienhardt-Cesler also pointed out that three of the top four hitters statistically this year are inexperienced – two are even freshmen.

“Some people that haven’t really played before are doing better than the other players right now,” she said.