After playing 25 games so far this season, all of them on the road, the ISU softball team finally comes home to host Northern Iowa.

For the Cyclones, the past two months have been long and tiring. They started the season with four straight losses before winning their first game, a 1-0 victory over Florida International on Feb. 8. Their longest winning streak has been three games, and they currently hold a record of 8-17 overall and are 1-1 in conference play.

Iowa State has been outscored 103-60 on the season.

Senior Julia Lindsey leads the team in batting average (.299), on-base percentage (.319) and stolen bases (6).

“We struggled early, but we’re getting stronger now and starting to gel. I think we are only going to get better,” Lindsey said.

The Cyclones are eager to finally play at home and are eager to play the Panthers, who they lost to in a scrimmage game last fall.

“We’re really excited to finally play at home this season, especially since we’ve been on the road for so long,” senior Kelly Wardein said.

Iowa State faces a Panther team that has dropped three of its last four games and is 7-17 on the season.

The Cyclones have also dropped three of their last four but snapped a four-game losing streak to Texas Tech on Sunday, winning 7-4.

Head coach Ruth Crowe said the Panthers are better than their 7-17 record.

Crowe said Northern Iowa has always had a good team with solid hitting and strong defense.

The Panthers are led by freshman Mandy Kumamoto, who is batting .256. Fellow freshman Krystan Reed is batting .250 with 14 hits, good for second on the team in both categories.

Wardein said if the Cyclones play their best game, they should defeat the Panthers.

“Every weekend, we are getting better, and things are falling into place,” Wardein said.

“The team has the mentality that nobody is satisfied and they want to get better.”

Crowe agreed.

“I think the thing about this year is we really feel like we are getting better every time we get out there, and we are going to continue to do that,” she said.

“It’ll be a challenge if we don’t go out and play well because they have every possibility of beating us.”

Like any sport, the home fans will be a big benefit to the Cyclones. Both Lindsey and Wardein expected a decent turnout if the weather stays nice, but Lindsey said the fans can’t be where the team’s attention is.

“You need to keep your head in the game and not focusing on the crowd,” Lindsey said.

Game time is 3 p.m. Thursday at the Southwest Athletic Complex.