When 40 percent of your starters are freshmen, you tend to have ups and downs. Iowa State is finally trending up.

Freshman second baseman Sami Williams hits leadoff and entered Saturday’s game hitting .370. A few spots down the order are freshmen Megan Schweitzer, Talyn Lewis and Logan Schaben, playing critical positions like third base and shortstop.

Following an 0-11 start to the Big 12 season under first year Iowa State head coach Jamie Trachsel, the young Cyclones have now racked up four straight wins and have won back-to-back Big 12 series’ for the first time since 2002.

Saturday’s 3-2 victory over Kansas clinched a berth in the Big 12 Tournament, something that seemed like a pipe dream following last year’s 1-17 Big 12 record.

Sophomore pitcher Emma Hylen said the difference between last year and this year is “night and day.”

“It’s just been like an uphill climb the whole season,” Hylen said. “We’re reaching our peak at the end of the season which is right where we want to be.”

Iowa State’s five conference wins this year are the most the program has had in a season since 2009.

“We’ve challenged them with a year’s worth of buy-in,” Trachsel said.

That buy-in from the players has finally started to show up in games.

Logan Schaben entered Saturday’s game hitting .179 on the season. At the bottom of the order, Schaben doesn’t get many opportunities to drive in runs.

She took advantage of her chance Saturday. With Iowa State and Kansas tied at one run apiece in the bottom of the second inning, Schaben stepped up to the plate and hit the first pitch she saw over the fence to give Iowa State a 3-1 lead.

It was Schaben’s first career home run.

“It felt good off the bat but I wasn’t sure if it was going out or not,” Schaben said. “I was just looking for a decent pitch to hit and it was kind of middle-in and up in the zone.”

Schaben collected one hit in three at bats yesterday against Alexis Reid, who pitched both Friday and Saturday.

“It helps [to face the same pitcher],” Schaben said. “You’re kind of already experienced with it, you don’t have to talk as much as a team [about] what she’s throwing.”

All three runs batted in Saturday were off the bats of freshmen, as Talyn Lewis drove in Iowa State’s other run on a double.

While the freshmen carried the offensive load, a veteran shut down the Kansas bats for the second consecutive game.

Emma Hylen has been dominant in recent games. Following an 86-pitch complete game shutout Friday night in Iowa State’s 1-0 win, Hylen threw 119 pitches less than 24 hours later.

In 14 innings this weekend, Hylen gave up just one earned run and struck out 11 batters.

“She’s the difference maker,” Trachsel said. “She’s giving us a chance to win games. She’s shutting opponents down.”

Hylen said it was great to get some run support, which allowed a little bit of breathing room.

“That was so exciting,” Hylen said. “Both freshmen right away — Talyn with the double and then Logan with the home run. That was really fun.”

Hylen wasn’t quite as dominant as Friday, but she allowed just one earned run on Saturday and did enough to get through the game with a win.

Iowa State will finish its regular season Sunday at 12 p.m. with one final game against Kansas. The Big 12 Tournament begins next Friday in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.