The Cyclone softball team is back on the road before spring break, heading to Florida to compete in the Courtyard Marriott Osprey Classic in Jacksonville, Florida.

This three-day classic will feature the Cyclones facing the likes of Virginia Tech (7-5), Middle Tennessee (11-5), North Florida (9-8), and host Jacksonville (8-7).

This is an opportunity for the Cyclones to improve on their 8-7 record after finishing the Aquafina Invitational with a 2-3 record.

In the Aquafina Invitational, the Cyclones fell to Florida twice and Maryland once. Maryland held the Cyclones to five runs, although Iowa State left 12 runners on base, the Cyclones will need to improve on this should they wish to win close games.

Their performances against Florida saw the Cyclones’ third and fourth shutout losses of the season, losing by eight runs in the first meeting and by three runs in the second game.

“I think we just relaxed a lot more in our second game, our coaches pointed out that we were scared of the name on their jersey,” Pinkerton said. “We were playing Florida, so everyone was really stressed out and really scared.”

“But when Sunday came around, we had nothing to lose, so it made it easier to play when weren’t walking on eggshells.” 

There was improvement in the second game, where the pitching of Emma Hylen helped the Cyclones hold the potent offense of the Gators to no runs in the final three innings.

Their wins against Georgia Southern and Illinois State saw close games winning by a single run. The Cyclones defeated the Eagles 1-0 thanks to a walk-off hit by junior catcher Kaylee Bosworth in the last inning.

Illinois State was destined for a second loss after falling to a 5-1 deficit in the sixth inning, but the Redbirds almost came all the way back, bringing the game to a 5-4 game. It was the defense by the Cyclones in the final inning of play that won the game.

Savannah Sanders completed her first save of the season for the Cyclones.

In the game against Illinois State, she came in for Brianna Weilbacher and pitched a total of nine pitches, enough to save game.

Looking forward to the competition this weekend, the Cyclones have a lot of things they wish to continue moving forward.

“We got to limit bad innings to one run, two at the most. That was kinda our achilles’ heel,” Pinkerton said. “We gave up three runs in the seventh [inning] against Illinois State, and five runs in the second against Maryland.”

This improvement was significant from the starters in the infield despite the 2-3 record that is in the books.

Not surprisingly, due to a fair amount of time at first-base, senior infielder Nychole Antillon contributed to the raise in percentage.

“This weekend, as a whole we kinda did take a step back, but I think of it as a learning weekend,” Antillon said. “We know now what we need to work on, they’re all controllable, and they’re easy adjustments.”

Scouting reports and team meetings show that the Cyclones are impacted by bunts, something that Antillon does not take lightly.

“I know Coach Courtney mentioned about bunts, and that they have on our scouting report that we are late on blunts, and so we crash hard,” Antillon said. “So that’s why [other teams] push upon on us.

“I took it kinda hard, cause I’m the main person that gets the bunts, so it’s something I need to work on.”

Pitching has been a major presence, and in games with multiple pitchers, the common denominator has been Bosworth.

Her hits this season have been placing the Cyclones in scoring positions. Her nine RBIs currently lead the team. If Iowa State wants to continue to getting runners home, Bosworth will have to step up when runners are on the bases.

“I try not to think about it, try not to put too much pressure on myself. I should just get a pitch and hit it, do my job,” said Bosworth on her thinking process when seeing runners in scoring position when she is at bat.

This competition down in Jacksonville is the Cyclones’ second consecutive tournament in the Sunshine State, so weather should not be an issue.

The Cyclones will be back on the the diamond on Friday, March 2 at noon against Virginia Tech.