The ISU softball team recorded its first win of the year in the third game of the season last weekend, giving coach Stacy Gemeinhardt her first win as the new head coach. It was the team’s earliest victory in a season since 2003.

Even with the win, the Cyclones are 1-3 as they prepare for this weekend’s Crowne Plaza Tournament in Houston.

“Losing three games really gave us the opportunity to identify things that we feel we needed to work on,” Gemeinhardt said.

She said the Cyclones need to be in top form when they head to Houston this weekend, where they play Wichita State and No. 25 BYU on Friday, Rhode Island and Houston on Saturday and Texas State on Sunday.

“I think nothing ever is a given, especially in our sport,” Gemeinhardt said. “So we really try not to get hung up on who we’re playing, just we need to make sure our effort is 100 percent every time we go out.”

In order to be in top form, the most important thing the Cyclones feel they need to improve for this weekend is minimizing errors. Last weekend they committed 11 errors in four games, causing 11 of the 17 runs that they allowed to be unearned.

“Any time you have an error, it’s obviously not good,” Gemeinhardt said. “What’s worse is if you have an error, then as a result, you make another error.”

She also stressed the Cyclones need to shake off their shortcomings so they can continue to concentrate on the game itself.

Iowa State looks to improve an offense that managed only two runs in four games, both of which were driven in by junior first baseman Jessica Quade. She, as well, said the team needs to make some drastic adjustments to win more games.

“Our biggest thing is that we need to attack more,” Quade said. “Instead of taking the first strike and waiting for our pitch, we got to figure out how to hit their pitch.”

The Cyclones didn’t need much offense in their 1-0 win over South Carolina, thanks in part to the performance of sophomore Amie Ford. Ford (1-1) pitched a complete-game shutout, giving up only two hits and lowering her earned run average to 1.11.

Gemeinhardt said Iowa State needs Ford to continue throwing as well as she did, and also needs junior Alyssa Ransom to rebound from a two-loss weekend.

She said she’s confident that Ransom, who broke a finger on her glove hand but will still play, will get back on track and help the Cyclones have a successful weekend.

“She’s a great pitcher, she just needs to be aware of her mental preparation,” Gemeinhardt said.