The 12-22 Iowa State softball team prepares to host a doubleheader against South Dakota State on Tuesday at the Cyclones Sports Complex.

The Cyclones are coming off a three-game series against No. 9 Texas in which they did not win a single game.

Meanwhile, South Dakota State is coming off of a three-game series against Omaha where it swept the Mavericks.

Iowa State head coach Jamie Pinkerton had some high praise for South Dakota State heading into Tuesday’s doubleheader.

“They’re a very good mid-major team as they’ve been Summit champions the last couple of years too,” Pinkerton said. “They have a very good pitching staff, so we have just got to straighten out some things in the early innings and we will be good.”

Iowa State looks to improve upon its poor defensive showing this past weekend as it committed 11 errors that resulted in Texas scoring runs.

The Cyclones will look to improve offensively as they put up just two runs on 10 hits on the weekend against a tough Longhorn team.

The Jackrabbits have shown they are able to compete with top-25 competition as they beat No. 22 Baylor earlier in the season by a score of 5-2 in Waco, Texas.

The Spelhaug duo was able to shine in Saturday’s matchup against Texas as they each had respectable appearances on the day.

Ellie Spelhaug was able to go five and a third innings while only giving up two runs on the mound to a Texas team that is considered one of the best in the nation. She now looks ahead to Tuesday’s doubleheader to hopefully help her team get some desperately needed wins.

“I think we’re prepared no matter what. We just gotta go out and play the way we know how to play,” Ellie Spelhaug said.

Her sister, Carli Spelhaug, was able to have a game for herself as well. She started the game at first base on Saturday which helped her perform well in the field as she has had prior experience there.

At the plate, she reached base in all three of her at-bats, accounting for a double and a single in two of those plate appearances.

“We just gotta put all three facets together with the pitching, the defense and the hitting,” Carli Spelhaug said. “Once we start being more disciplined and swinging hard at the plate, I think we will be able to really compete.”

The first game of the doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday, followed by the second game at 3:30 p.m.