The Cyclones are on the road again this weekend to compete against the Red Raiders in Lubbock, Texas, in a Big 12 showdown.

The Cyclones are 1-8 in the conference but still have nine Big 12 games left to compete in to better their record.

The Red Raiders are coming into this series 1-11 in the Big 12, having been swept by No. 16 Baylor and Texas, but owning a victory against Oklahoma State. It’s been a similar case for the Cyclones.

This puts more emphasis on this series between Iowa State and Texas Tech. As it gets further into the latter half of the season, the winner of this game could potentially own a tiebreaker over the other.

Iowa State has not laced up to play in over a week, with their last game being a 10-7 victory in an in-state rivalry game against Northern Iowa.

Kaila Konz had an impact on the game by ripping a three-RBI triple to give the Cyclones a 7-6 lead in the top of the sixth inning. It was the second triple of her career.

The game went to extra innings after UNI scored a single run. The Cyclones responded with a three-run home run by Kaylee Bosworth in the top of the eighth inning. This would mark her fifth home run of the season.

The Raiders on the other half are coming in with an eight-game losing streak. Their last win of the season so far was an extra inning victory over Oklahoma State, beating them in eight innings for a 4-3 victory. They then lost to the Cowgirls in a 10-4 blowout.

Texas Tech will play their second to last series in the Big 12 against the Cyclones before heading to play Kansas. The Red Raiders are currently in sixth place, the last qualifying spot, for the Big 12 Tournament.

Iowa State are in fifth place, with two series against Kansas and Baylor left to play. This series can potentially shake things up in the Big 12, as Kansas is still the only team without a victory in conference.

“It’s at a point where if we want to qualify for postseason we have to win series and win games,” Pinkerton said. “We know what our goals are in the Big-12 standpoint is to make the post-season.”

“And also, too, the goal is to be get above .500. And hopefully our RPI is high enough to make the NCAA post-season.” 

The Cyclones have only been able to scrimmage inside the Bergstrom Indoor Football Complex lately to stay fresh. Being a northern team, the conditions in Ames have canceled two weekend series for the Cyclones.

“It’s just more planning going to it, because usually we’re out of the [Bergstrom] within the last week of spring break,” Konz said on her experience this year’s scheduling problems with the weather. 

The first was the Oklahoma series, that due to freezing temperatures, was moved to Norman.

In fact, this last weekend series against the Western Illinois was canceled due to snowing conditions in Ames, canceling the entire double header and unable to be rescheduled for now.

Iowa State has only been on their field a count of less than 10 times, with most of their practices being held in the Bergstrom Indoor Football Complex.

“I think the routine gets changed,” said Iowa State head coach Jamie Pinkerton. “I think in the course of four years previously, a lot of these [players] know by mid-March that they’ll be in the dirt.”

Weather in Lubbock, Texas, are looking to be forecasted in the low 70’s and high 40’s, with only Saturday being a concern due to the rain.

Game one will begin on Friday, March 20 at 3 p.m. and then games two and three will be on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at noon.