This weekend, Iowa State will face the Baylor Lady Bears, marking the second to last conference foe in the Big 12 play for the Cyclones.

The Lady Bears are coming in after suffering their first lost since riding a five-game win streak. Baylor’s loss came after dropping the second game of a doubleheader on Tuesday. 

Iowa State comes after knocking off Iowa following a series victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Overall, the Lady Bears are 30-14 coming into the series, with a 7-6 conference record. 

That Iowa win came after the Cyclones comeback 4-2 victory. 

“I thought we did a nice job of coming back and putting two [scores up] real quick up,” said coach Jamie Pinkerton. “They put us on our heels, and we came back and landed a blow. And both teams settled in. And we were able to scratch two runs in the third.” 

After an excellent outing against the Hawkeyes, Emma Hylen is the reliable hand in the pitching rotation. The 6-foot-3 junior from Roseville, Minnesota, is 10-9 on the season. She has 29 appearances and 19 starts on the season.

Against Iowa, she went all seven innings, allowing five hits and only two earned runs. This helped keep the Cyclones ahead with their 4-2 lead despite not being able to score beyond the third inning.

“We got more home games with hopefully good weather coming into Baylor this weekend and take this and use this momentum to them too,” Hylen said.

Sydney Stites is coming into the series after a great outing against Iowa. In her three at bats, she racked up two hits and scored on a Taylor Nearad double.

Her performance has been excellent for the Cyclones since her transfer from Montana, providing a .300 batting average this season. During the mid-week game, she was able to perform well against the hot-handed pitcher in the Hawkeyes’ Allison Doocy. Doocy had a 1.80 ERA coming into the Cy-Hawk game.

“She had a good raise ball, but I was able to see it,” Stites said. “And when you don’t swing at it, she tends to bring it down in the zone more. Those are the pitches I tend to swing at.

“So, I think just being a little bit more selective and swinging at the pitches were key to my success [against the Hawkeyes].”

This series will represent a huge factor in the Big 12 race, with the current standings having the Cyclones in fifth place with a 3-9 conference record ahead of Texas Tech and Kansas.

“I think our focus isn’t on owning the tie breaker, we just want to go out there and play Baylor as we know we can,” Stites said. “So we are just going into this game knowing we are at home and we’re really ready to play them.” 

The Cyclones victory over Iowa proved the improvements that Pinkerton has found on his effectiveness to get out of innings where the Cyclones allow multiple runs.

“I wasn’t happy we gave up two runs, but I was happier that it wasn’t four,” Pinkerton said. “That we’ve been giving up in the last few games in the Big 12.

“And when they scored, I just told [the players], “hey we just gotta punch it back.”

Hylen, along with the rest of the team, agree to this mindset,

“I think making adjustments, not just me but the whole team. Obviously the first inning wasn’t what we wanted,” Hylen said. “We wanted to put up the zeros to start the game, but as long as we can flip the switch and make those adjustments.” 

The Cyclones will be back on the mound agaisnt the Lady Bears on Friday at 4 p.m. at the Cyclone Sports Complex.