After dropping a doubleheader on Monday, the ISU softball team is hoping to get back into the win column as they take to the road to face No. 6 Nebraska today in a Big 12 Conference game. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.

In their first matchup on April 2 in Ames, junior right-hander Peaches James pitched a five-hit shutout as she struck out five and walked two in the 3-0 Cornhuskers win.

The big spark in the game for Nebraska was a two-run home run by Sheena Lawrick that put the Cornhuskers up 3-0 in the top of the third inning. Nebraska had four players with two hits.

ISU head coach Ruth Crowe said the team will most likely face James, who will bring a 18-9 record, a 1.51 ERA and 179 strikeouts into the game.

“We’ll probably see Peaches just because she held us — she shut us down,” Crowe said. “They’re in a race. They’re trying to move up in the standings.”

Crowe said her team can’t play like they did against Oklahoma State on Monday.

“We had too many errors [on Monday],” said Crowe, whose team is 18-25 overall and 5-10 in the conference. “We can’t have five or six errors. We just can’t and expect to win.”

Nebraska, which is 32-11 (8-6), will bring in a conference-leading team batting average of .289.

Sophomore Anne Steffan leads the Cornhuskers offensively with a .347 average and senior Amanda Buchholz is second on the team with a .308 batting average. Buchholz also has nine home runs and 29 RBIs.

Besides James, Nebraska also relies on Summer Tobias on the mound. The freshman has started 16 games and is 13-2 with a 1.29 ERA.

Junior second baseman/shortstop Julia Lindsey, who had a combined five hits in the doubleheader, said the Cyclones will be selective with pitches when facing James and the rest of the Big 12.

“Like a lot of pitchers in the conference, you’ve got to be patient,” Lindsey said. “They throw a lot of pitches up and down — something you can drive.”

Lindsey is the lone Cyclone with a batting average of over .300. With her five hits on Monday, she now has a .340 average. Iowa State is last in the conference in batting with a .222 average.

Crowe said she hopes Lindsey’s offensive performance can be contagious to the rest of the Cyclones.

“The problem is that we don’t have enough people who have her mentality,” Crowe said.

“When her mentality is good, she is really, really good. We don’t have enough people who really fight like her.”

Sophomore outfielder Kim Rodgers, who went 2-for-2 in the second game, said the team won’t back down from the Cornhuskers.

“[We have to] come out aggressive, play hard and lay everything on the line,” she said.