Most teams in a four-game losing streak start to get a little worried about their performance. However the Cyclones, who just dropped two games to Big 12 powerhouse and No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns, won’t let a losing streak get them down.

“It has a potential to get us down,” said sophomore pitcher Amie Ford. “We have to be positive and know that even though we have lost some games, they have been close and we’ve been playing hard.”

The Cyclones also stressed the importance of not getting caught up in losing streaks and individual games.

“We just need to stay up and stay focused on our whole season,” Ford said. “As a whole we’re playing well, so we just need to use that as we go into Iowa.”

The Cyclones (15-15) try and get back on track at 4 p.m Tuesday when they face Iowa (18-12) at the Southwest Athletic Complex.

Although they aren’t worried about streaks, they are worried about collecting wins and bouncing back.

“It will be huge to bounce back,” said pitcher Alyssa Ransom. “Not thinking about the games that we lost or the games that we won, just thinking about winning and beating Iowa is what we need to do.”

After facing the Longhorns, the Cyclones will be facing an Iowa team that isn’t going to be as good, or have pitchers along the lines of the Longhorns’ Cat Osterman – arguably the best pitcher in the game.

“Everyone is a step down from Cat Osterman,” Ransom said. “And that’s nothing against what Iowa is going to bring against us.”

Ransom said although they faced Osterman, that doesn’t mean they can automatically hit everyone.

“We’re still going to have to approach the game like any other because she is still going to be a D-1 pitcher,” Ransom said. “We just need to focus on hitting whomever Iowa throws at us.”

The game holds even more importance for the Cyclones because of some of the goals they set at the beginning of the year. As they stand, the Cyclones are sitting right at the .500 mark. A win keeps them above their pre-season goal – a loss drops them below.

“You have to be above .500 and do well in your conference to get into the tournament, and that is our ultimate goal,” Ransom said. “To stay above .500 should be a big goal for us.”

Although the game doesn’t hold the importance of a conference game, it holds a unique kind of importance. The intrastate rivalry will determine who gets bragging rights – the right to call themselves the best softball team in Iowa.

“It’s exciting to play Iowa,” said ISU coach Stacy Gemeinhardt. “You never, ever want to lose to Iowa and you always want to prove that Iowa State is the best school – which it is.”

The Cyclones expressed a high amount of confidence as they prepared to take on their rivals – most of which stems from the confidence gained from their strong play against Texas.

“If we play the way we did the first game out against Texas, we [will] beat Iowa,” Ransom said. “I’m not intimidated by them at all and I’m ready to go for Tuesday.”