The Iowa State softball team is 7-3 in the past two weekends and riding high heading into the Easton Invitational.

“Our pitching and defense was all together, and our offense went off,” said freshman second basemen Kasey Simpson.

The Easton Invitational in Fullerton, California will be the Cyclones’ final non-conference tournament.

“It’s a good field, there’s going to be a good mix of teams, some teams with some good records that’ll prepare us for going into Austin,” said Iowa State head coach Jamie Pinkerton.

Iowa State begins Big 12 play on March 22 against the Texas Longhorns.

“I think we need to become more consistent and making sure that we don’t have innings like the first inning this past weekend,” said junior shortstop Sami Williams.

This weekend Iowa State sets its sights on winning the Easton Invitational against some quality opponents.

The 13-9 Cyclones begin the Easton Invitational with a matchup against the DePaul Blue Demons at 1:30 p.m. on Friday.

DePaul is 3-0 all-time against the Cyclones, with their most victory coming in 2017 by a score of 3-2.

DePaul has had a very good start to the season with a record of 17-5 and the best record in the Big East.

Last season the Blue Demons won the Big East Championship and made the NCAA tournament.

Although the Blue Demons do have an excellent record, it should be noted that none of the teams that they have beaten have been ranked or received votes to ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll.

Iowa State has played four games against teams in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and has a record of 1-3 in those games, with the one win coming against the Colorado State Rams.

On Saturday, the Cyclones will play two games, one against the Boston Terriers at 2 p.m. and one against the Harvard Crimson at 5 p.m.

This matchup between Iowa State and Boston will be the second time that they’ve faced each other; the Terriers won the first matchup by a score of 4-3 in 2015.

Last season, the Terriers took home the Patriot League Championship and made the NCAA tournament.

Boston has a record of 11-9 this season and have lost four games in a row.

Harvard is one of the top defensive teams in the country with a fielding percentage of .985 so far this season.

Crimson has a record of 5-4, four of those five wins have come by one run each. In three of their four losses, Harvard has been shut out.

Iowa State and Harvard have played each other once before, in 2014 where the Cyclones earned a 4-2 victory.

Like DePaul and Boston, Harvard won their conference championship a season ago and made the NCAA tournament.

Iowa State will conclude the Easton Invitational with a game against the College of Charleston Cougars at 10 a.m. and the Long Beach State 49ers at 4 p.m Sunday. 

College of Charleston has a record of 11-11 and have won three out their last five games including a win over the Dartmouth Big Green, who the Cyclones also beat.

Along with facing Dartmouth, the Cougars have faced two other common opponents with the Cyclones, the Radford Highlanders and the Appalachian State Mountaineers.

The Cougars lost to both, while the Cyclones beat the Highlanders but lost to the Mountaineers.

Iowa State and College of Charleston have played each other three times before with the Cougars winning all of them.

Long Beach State is 8-14 this season but have high quality wins against the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Oregon State Beavers.

The 49ers also took the newly ranked number UCLA Bruins to extra innings last weekend.

Last season, the 49ers went 43-14 last season and made the NCAA tournament.

Long Beach State has dominated the Cyclones historically as the 49ers have won all ten previous matchups, including a 3-1 victory last season.