The Iowa State softball team had arguably its best weekend of the season in the Holy City Showdown in Charleston, South Carolina, where the Cyclones won games against Marshall, Radford and Dartmouth, while only dropping one game to the Appalachian State Mountaineers.

The Cyclones were strong defensively and on the mound while their offense showed signs of improvement.

Pitching, defense stay strong

In four games in the Holy City Showdown, the Cyclones gave up only three runs, two of those coming in a 2-1 loss to the Mountaineers. The Cyclones’ opponents only had 11 hits in the Holy City Showdown which averages out to less than three hits a game.

Iowa State has given up 31 runs in 12 games this season, and opponents have averaged 2.8 runs per game against the Cyclones.

The Cyclones have a fielding percentage of .979 which is second among the seven teams in the Big 12.

Iowa State’s opponents have been held to a batting average of .213 thus far this season. Two Cyclone pitchers, seniors Savannah Sanders and Emma Hylen, are in the top 10 in lowest ERA’s among Big 12 pitchers.

Sanders is seventh in the Big 12 with an ERA of 2.01 and Hylen is 10th in the Big 12 with an ERA of 2.16.

As a team, Iowa State has an ERA of 2.24 which is fourth in the Big 12.

Sophomore Tatum Ksiazek has been a star on the mound in her two appearances for the Cyclones as she has only allowed one hit and no runs.

Competitive in losses

Out of the 12 games Iowa State has played so far this season, nine of those games have been decided by three runs or fewer. 

In those nine games, the Cyclones have won five and lost four. Those four losses have come against Appalachian State, the defending national champion and top-ranked Florida State Seminoles, Stanford and North Carolina-Wilmington.

All of those games finished with a one-run victory for the Cyclones’ opponents.

Hitting remains a problem

Coming into the Holy City Showdown, the Cyclones had a batting average of .170. However, that number is now at .208 after the Holy City Showdown.

Despite the improvement in batting average, the biggest reason the Cyclones’ batting average improved is that the Cyclones offense caught fire against Dartmouth on Sunday.

The Cyclones still have the lowest batting average among the Big 12 teams.

What’s next?

Phoenix, Arizona, is Iowa State’s next destination, as the Cyclones are set to play five games in the Lopes Up Classic.