AMES – Iowa State continues its homestand this weekend with a three-game series against BYU. The Big 12 matchups will take place at 4 p.m. Thursday, 4 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday. Each game will be live-streamed on ESPN+.
The Cyclones look to keep rolling following a strong performance against Arizona State last weekend. After taking two of the three games in the series, Iowa State is 6-3 in conference and on one of its best stretches of the season. It has firmly established itself as a contender in the Big 12 thus far.
However, the Cougars are not to be taken lightly. They are 21-9 this season and 5-4 in conference.
On Saturday, BYU took down No. 9 Arizona 9-4 in a huge team victory. After being down 4-0, the Cougars answered back with nine unanswered runs, including three home runs.
The Cyclones have struggled mightily with the Cougars in the past. With BYU being one of the newest members of the Big 12, the programs have not crossed paths often, but when they have, BYU has capitalized.
Iowa State is 1-8 all time in these matchups, with its last win coming in 2018. This weekend, the Cyclones look to take down a team that has historically dominated them.
Power hitting has been a strength for BYU this season. The Cougars dwarf Iowa State’s 25 home runs on the season with 44. Freshman Ilove’a Brittingham has been the star at the plate thus far for BYU, batting .416 and crushing 11 of BYU’s home runs.
While Brittingham is having a great rookie season, Iowa State’s success early in conference play can also be partially attributed to contributions from its strong freshman class. Freshmen Jessie Clemons and Sereniti Trice have given the team a huge boost with excellent performances at the plate, while fellow freshman Abby Huhn has been a solid pitcher in her first season with the team, posting a 3-2 record thus far.
The pitching staff, as well as the defense, has been excellent as of late. In five of the last six games, Iowa State has allowed the opposing team to score less than five runs. It will enter this weekend’s games the hottest it has been all season in this aspect.
“We’ve won five of six now, just kind of continue the winning ways,” Iowa State head coach Jamie Pinkerton said. “We’ve got to get above .500.”
Playing in front of the home crowd seemed to give the Cyclones a lift last weekend, and this weekend’s series will be a great test to see if that holds true as the team settles into their long home stand in the second half of the season.
