Iowa State softball opens the 2022 season without key leaders from a season ago, but Iowa State head coach Jamie Pinkerton said replacing that production will be a collective effort this season.

The season starts Friday as Iowa State will compete at the Doc Halverson UNI-Dome Tournament in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

“As the season goes on, who’s going to step into that vacuum and provide the leadership that those two did last year?” Pinkerton said. “I think right now we’ve done a good job of that by committee.”

The 2021 season was among the best in program history for Iowa State.

The Cyclones reached the NCAA tournament for the second time in school history before losing to Missouri at the Columbia Super Regional.

For the 2022 season, Iowa State will enter competition without Sami Williams and Logan Schaben. Williams, a first-team All-American shortstop, has been the Iowa State leader in hits, batting average and home runs for the last five seasons.

In her campaign in Ames, Williams earned a laundry list of accolades, school and Big 12 records. The Cyclone shortstop ended her career with the all-time single-season records for batting average, runs scored and home runs.

Schaben started all 57 games last season at third base for Iowa State.

Iowa State has seven seniors in total for its 2022 campaign. The leading returning Cyclone in all major offensive categories will be senior catcher Mikalya Ramos. Ramos batted .365 last season and has hit 65 career home runs, second only to Williams. 

“I think [losing Williams] obviously leaves a big hole in leadership,” Ramos said. “But we have a lot of key players who can step up and fill that leadership role.”

Ramos was the 2021 leader in RBIs for Iowa State, and with an OPS of 1.135 last season, she is more than capable of filling that hole with her bat.

For the pitching staff, Iowa State’s two top arms will return for 2022.

Karlie Charles returns after leading the Cyclones in starts last season. Charles was considered the Cyclones ‘ ace with 14 wins and a 3.41 earned run average. 

Junior Ellie Spelhaug, who led the staff in appearances, also returns for another season. Spelhaug produced the lowest opponent batting average on the staff at just .240 and got 13 wins in the process.

At the UNI-Dome Tournament, Iowa State will play five games beginning Friday and ending Sunday.

It starts with Omaha on Friday, then South Dakota State and Nebraska on Saturday and finishes with Northern Iowa and Drake on Sunday. 

“Having two Iowa teams there is always fun,” Spelhaug said. “You always want to be the best team in Iowa.”

Last season, Iowa State was a perfect 5-0 at the UNI-Dome Tournament, outscoring its opponents 38-7. This year, the UNI-Dome Tournament will have a fellow Power 5 opponent in Nebraska presenting yet another challenge to Iowa State in its first weekend of the season. 

Iowa State will face Omaha on Friday at 11:15 a.m., Nebraska on Saturday at 8.am., followed by SDSU at 12:30 p.m., Drake on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. and UNI at 3:45 p.m.