The ISU softball team travels to Louisville this weekend in hopes of bringing home its first tournament title.

The Cyclones will be participating in the 2004 Louisville Courtyard Marriott East Classic. The tournament begins Friday and is hosted by Louisville. Other teams featured include Tennessee-Martin and Kent State.

The softball team last competed in the San Diego State Campbell/Cartier Classic two weekends ago. The Cyclones finished the tournament 1-3 but have high hopes for a successful outcome this weekend.

“I think we’ll fare well,” freshman catcher Ashley Killeen said. “We’ve had a couple of good practices.”

Killeen said the team has been doing more repetitions of everything in practice to prepare and to improve consistency.

“We have been struggling with scoring runs,” junior outfielder Misty Kimura said. “We need to be more aggressive and not so tentative at the plate.”

Kimura leads the Cyclones with a batting average of .280 and hopes to be at .300 after this weekend.

“I need to be more consistent and hit the ball hard every at bat,” Kimura said.

Senior Julia Lindsey follows closely behind Kimura hitting .231.

The Cyclones will play Tennessee-Martin at 11 a.m. Friday. The Skyhawks have a 7-5 record and are led by Fallon Lowery, who has a batting average of .348. The Cyclones will then turn around and take on Kent State, a team that is 2-1 on the season.

Even though Kent State has only played three games this season, Iowa State is not expecting an automatic win.

“I don’t think anyone will be an easy win if they are a Division I team,” freshman pitcher Alyssa Ransom said.

Saturday at 1 p.m., Iowa State takes on 11-6 Louisville. Killeen said the Cardinals should be the Cyclones’ greatest competition.

“Louisville just beat Oklahoma,” she said. “They’re pretty tough.”

The Cyclones could play another game on Sunday, but the team has not yet been determined.

Ransom said although the season has not been going as well as the Cyclones would like, they have the ability to win.

“We keep getting better every time we step on the field,” she said. “Our morale is up.”