The ISU softball team is traveling around Iowa this fall to tune up for the 2001 spring season. Iowa State begins its season Sept. 9 with a tournament at the University of Northern Iowa. Following a 20-day break, the team will host a tournament at ISU’s Southwest Athletic Complex, then travel to the University of Iowa for a tournament Oct. 8 to end the short fall season. The fall season serves as an experience builder for the young and new players, said ISU head softball coach Ruth Crowe. It also gives the coaches and other players an idea of where they stand compared to the other teams. “Our record doesn’t count in the fall, so it’s a good opportunity for us to get better,” Crowe said. “It also gives the younger players some experience before the spring season starts.” Crowe said she has an experienced pitching staff coming back from last spring’s team, which finished with a 18-29 record. Sophomores Jen Bice and Erica Martinez return to the pitching staff along with senior Kristin Ferguson. Crowe said they are a strength for the softball team this fall. “Our pitching will definitely be better,” she said. “I saw last year as a chance for our younger players to get their feet wet.” Bice saw the most action last season, working 110 innings with 82 strikeouts. She finished the season with a 9-8 record with a 2.42 ERA. Crowe said Bice will be called upon to support an experienced pitching staff. Opposing players batted .249 against Bice for the season. Martinez and Ferguson will add to the pitching experience for the Cyclones, Crowe said. Between the two, they took the mound in 115.2 innings with 76 strikeouts. Crowe said she expects them to do just as well this season. “We have two sophomores [Martinez and Bice] coming back who got a lot of playing time last season. Along with Kristin [Ferguson], I’m looking for them to have a big year,” Crowe said. Crowe said inexperience may be a weakness for the team as the season begins. “We’re young and we lost a lot of players from last season,” she said. “We’re bringing in six freshmen, so that will be exciting for us to watch them improve as the year goes on.” Offensively, the Cyclones are looking to rebuild, Crowe said. The third, fourth and fifth-ranked batters are gone from last year’s team, and Crowe will be looking to the younger players to fill those open spots in the line-up. “As the season starts, we’ll be able to identify more weaknesses and improve on those as we go along,” she said. “Once we identify those weaknesses and improve on them, hopefully we’ll be competing by spring.” Leadership for this year’s team will come junior Kimi Yoshizawa and seniors Ferguson and Sarah Kinney. “They may not all start, and since Kristin [Ferguson] is a pitcher, she’ll be on and off the field. But I anticipate that they’ll make their presence known,” Crowe said.