After the dust settled at Rock Chalk Park on May 6, the Iowa State softball team left with one win and two losses against Kansas on the final weekend of the regular season.

Even with the series loss, the lone win was enough to secure the final spot in the Big 12 Tournament for the Cyclones.

“I think we could’ve won more in Kansas,” said senior pitcher Brianna Weilbacher. “I think those games were learning points for us, and that one win got us in the Big 12 Tournament.

“Taking what we need to learn from those three games and building off that there is a same level of excitement as getting in the postseason.”

Iowa State managed to reserve a place at the Big 12 Tournament, but the Cyclones are underdogs, grabbing the No. 6 seed in the six-team tournament.

Awaiting Iowa State will be fourth seeded Texas and first seeded Oklahoma. In the regular season, the Cyclones combined to go 0-6 against the two schools they’ll see in the Big 12 Tournament.

At 11 a.m., the Cyclones matchup with the Longhorns and All-Big 12 First-Team second baseman Janae Jefferson.

Jefferson, a freshman, finished the regular season with a .407 batting average, including a blistering .533 batting average in conference games.

While Jefferson racked up 32 hits in conference games, the most in the Big 12, she hasn’t been a threat with extra base hits.

The breakdown of her 32 hits shows: 30 singles, two doubles and no triples or home runs. Triples and home runs are valuable to a team, but so is a quality leadoff hitter.

Jefferson won’t be found in the three hole or cleanup spot on Friday, but she will be one of the most valuable leadoff hitters at the Big 12 Tournament. She won’t provide home runs, but she’s still a catalyst to the Longhorn offense.

Throughout the entire season, Jefferson has scored the most runs for Texas: 27, which is about 15 percent of Texas’ runs.

“She’s a singles hitter,” said Iowa State coach Jamie Pinkerton. “She’s definitely a player we have to keep off the basepaths. She’s not a player that you have to pitch around for the simple fact that she can drive in multiple runs and hit home runs.

“But what she does bring to the table is we have to keep her off the basepaths because she sets the table for the middle of Texas’ lineup. She’s been great at getting on base.”

The role Jefferson has adopted is to get on base for sluggers like Paige von Sprecken and the rest of Texas’ lineup.

Named to the All-Big 12 Second-Team, von Sprecken is a dual threat pitcher. von Sprecken maintained a 1.67 earned run average in 138.2 innings pitched — the highest amount of innings pitched by a Texas player — during the regular season.

When she wasn’t in the circle, von Sprecken lended a hand to the offense. The senior tallied 19 doubles, four home runs and 28 RBIs.

After the Texas and Iowa State game, the Longhorns will battle top-seeded Oklahoma. Texas head coach Connie Clark will likely save her top pitcher for the Sooners, so Iowa State has a good chance of facing the Longhorns’ second option.

“They’re a good team [Texas], and they definitely beat us, but I think we beat ourselves a lot that weekend,” said infielder Sydney Stites. “I think we definitely want to play Texas as a revenge game.

“They’re a great hitting team [and] they have a good pitching staff, but I also think we’re a great hitting team and we have an awesome pitching staff, as well.”

Once Texas and Oklahoma finish, the Friday finale will be the Sooners and Cyclones. In the regular season, Oklahoma outscored Iowa State 26-7 in a three-game series in Norman.

The Sooners bring an impressive team to the Big 12 Tournament, accumulating a 47-3 record with a perfect 18-0 conference record. Oklahoma utilized hitting and pitching to set itself apart from the rest of the conference.

Offensively, the Sooners hit 67 home runs with a .326 batting average and 60 stolen bases. Comparatively, the Cyclones hit 43 home runs with a .259 batting average and 42 stolen bases.

The Oklahoma pitching staff combined for a 1.09 earned run average compared to Iowa State’s 4.03. The Sooners pitching staff allowed 203 hits and 18 home runs to Iowa State’s 396 and 42.

During the Big 12 Softball Award reveal, the Sooners snagged 14 awards.

A first-round win over Texas advances the Cyclones into Saturday’s action, but if Iowa State gets knocked off by the Longhorns, it’ll be an uphill battle to avoid elimination against Oklahoma.