Iowa State softball will look to improve upon the 2-3 performance it had at the season-opening Louisiana Classic last weekend when it travels to Nashville, Tennessee, this weekend to play in the Tennessee State Tournament beginning Friday. 

Errors hurt the Cyclones in the first two games of the season, but they played cleaner as the tournament went on. In the first two games, Iowa State committed six errors, but finished the last three games with just one.

Iowa State coach Jamie Trachsel said she hopes that upward trend continues in Tennessee.

“I think if the kids stay focused and they stay hungry, which they are, then we’ll just keep getting better as the season goes along,” Trachsel said. “We can get better, and we will get better.”

Iowa State scored first in four of five games, something that it hopes will continue. 

“It’s huge,” sophomore pitcher Savannah Sanders said. “It gives you a lot of comfort on the mound knowing you have that support behind you.” 

Scoring first, though, isn’t everything. The Cyclones must keep challenging consistently throughout the game.

The Iowa State pitching staff will have its hands full in the first game of the tournament against Tennessee State. In the Tigers’ three wins on the season, they have scored at least eight runs, including a 17-point outing against Jackson State.

Through the first weekend of the season, the Cyclone pitching staff ranks No. 1 in the Big 12 in number of strikeouts with 38.

Despite that impressive stat, Trachsel is more concerned with the number of walks the Cyclones have given up.

“It goes back to are we getting ahead in the count, are we throwing our pitches and are we hitting our pitches at the right time,” Trachsel said. 

Trachsel said the strikeouts are certainly something to build on.

“If we use that along with bettering the rest of what we are trying to do as a pitching staff, then we will get better,” Trachsel said.

The Cyclones are looking forward to the weekend with a positive attitude despite dropping three of their first five games.

“Trust the process, definitely,” junior infielder Nychole Antillon said. “Trust in the process knowing that we’ve worked so hard. We’re ready. I’m ready.”

Iowa State opens up the tournament on Friday with games against Tennessee State and Alabama A&M. On Saturday, the Cyclones play Alabama A&M at 10:30 a.m. and Tennessee State at 1 p.m. The Cyclones will finish up the tournament Sunday with a third matchup against Tennessee State at noon.