The Cyclones return to Ames to resume conference play and host a struggling Houston Cougars team. 

Since getting swept by Baylor in a three-game series, Iowa State has won three of four.  Iowa State is 16-10 on the year and 0-3 in conference and Houston is 17-14 and 1-5 in conference.

The Cyclones lost a series against Houston last season and want to reverse that this year.

Even though Iowa State has played 26 games so far, this will be its first game at home. 

The Cyclones are coming off a strong showing at the Missouri Tournament, where they shut out Minnesota 3-0 and defeated South Dakota 9-4. They lost to Missouri 6-4 the next day, but that momentum didn’t stop as they rebounded and beat Creighton on Wednesday, 6-2. 

Reagan Bartholomew leads the Cyclones’ offense and has been red-hot. In her last four games, Bartholomew is 7-11 with two home runs. 

The Cougars are riding a four-game losing skid, coming at the hands of Kentucky, Texas State and two to Kansas. 

So far in the Big 12, they have played Texas Tech and Kansas, where they have been outscored by 45 runs. In these games, they have allowed just under 12 runs a game on average. 

Scoring runs is not the issue, as the Cougars have many heavy hitters. Maddie Hartley and Makenna Mitchell have 13 and 12 home runs, respectively, both top 20 in Division I. 

They also have three other sluggers with an OPS above .930. 

On the mound, Nevaeh Brown has an ERA of 3.59, but the next best is Gigi Solis at 5.47.

If the Cyclones want to win this series, it will be the offense that needs to jump on the Cougars pitchers. 

Iowa State only has two hitters in its starting lineup who have a batting average below .300. 

Iowa State’s offense will need to outmatch Houston’s in what could be a high-scoring series in Ames. 

The games will be played at 4 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.