Encouraging words and infield chatter were heard on the field at the Southwest Athletic Complex on Wednesday as the ISU softball team prepared for its first conference game of the season.

Due to the nice weather this week, the Cyclones have been able to practice for this weekend’s games against Texas Tech on their own field instead of Lied Recreation Center for only the second time all season.

Sophomore Cary Akins said it really helps being able to practice and play outside.

The Cyclones travel to Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday with an overall record of 7-16 to face the 16-19 Lady Raiders.

Akins said the Lady Raiders’ extra 12 games played won’t be that much of a factor in the two-game series.

“Sometimes we give it a thought, but it is nothing to worry about,” Akins said. “We are going to try and play within ourselves. If we do our best, we are confident we are going to win.”

In this year’s preseason poll, league coaches picked Iowa State to finish ninth in the Big 12 Conference and Texas Tech to finish 10th.

Freshman Ashley Killeen said the team needs to go into its first conference game confident.

“If we play our ‘A’ game, we will win a few,” she said. “I think we will match up [with Texas Tech] pretty well.”

Throughout the season the Cyclones have been struggling with consistency — both on defense and offense. Killeen said the team’s offensive consistency improved during the Georgia Tech Buzz Classic in Marietta, Ga., which took place during spring break.

Akins said the team still needs to work on consistently making plays on defense, but agrees that the team’s hitting has gotten better.

“We’re a lot closer now [to where hitting should be] than we used to be for the Big 12,” she said.

Senior Julia Lindsey leads the Cyclones with a batting average of .250, and following shortly behind her is junior Misty Kimura, who is batting .246.

Although Texas Tech has a big hitter in senior Elyssa Sigala, who’s currently hitting .394, Killeen said the team is not worried about her, but will respect her danger at the plate.

The Cyclones hope to end their three-game losing streak this weekend. Last year the team split the two games against the Lady Raiders.