Alone with your thoughts. No one else out there but you. The only type of communication you have is hand signals. You give a nod when you get the one you’re looking for. Noise is coming from every angle, but you don’t hear anything but your thoughts.

You’re locked in.

Just you, the pitcher, and the catcher’s mitt. You literally hold the game in your hands, but for ISU softball, a pitcher is never on her own.

For freshman pitchers Emma Hylen and Savannah Sanders, they’ve found success this season playing off each other. Now, Hylen and Sanders are two completely different pitchers.

“Well we’re completely opposite pitchers for sure,” Sanders. “She throws harder and I’m more of a movement pitcher, so were a good balance.”

And it is those differences that have made the two easily Iowa State’s most consistent pitchers, combining for 17 appearances and a combined 2.34 ERA. But for as impressive as the two individuals have been, they both keep speaking of the themselves as a part of a pitching staff.

“[Coach Weil-Miller] is really making sure were working together as a team, as pitchers, not individuals,” Hylen said. “Because even though were out there for ourselves, you know it really takes all the pitchers to work together.”

The idea of having multiple pitchers in one game is an interesting concept, but is usually a tough idea to get players to buy into. However, Iowa State’s mindset of a collective pitching staff, is allowing pitchers like Emma Hylen pick up a win and save during the same weekend.

“We’re all working together, again we’re just keeping a good mix and a good flow of everything,” Hylen said.

Savannah Sanders, who was sick this past weekend and didn’t make the trip, is looking forward to building her and Hylen’s relationship as the two look to spend the next four seasons together. She thinks it is chemistry that is going to be the key to her and the pitching staffs’ success.

The team’s pitching success comes as a surprise, as the past few season have been rough for the Cyclones in the circle. And even with the coaching staff expecting big things from their young arms, it’s pretty safe to assume nobody was expecting these two freshman to be anchoring the team’s pitching staff.

Even coach Gemeinhardt-Cesler has been won over by her young arms, as she has been using Hylen as one of her best starters and the team’s best option to close games.

“I think the big thing is she doesn’t seem phased by what’s going on around her and I think that makes a huge difference when you are a pitcher” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said.

Currently, the Cyclones have been one of the best pitching staffs in the Big 12 so far this season with a team ERA of 2.06, which is good enough for third in the conference.

With ISU putting together a great season in the circle with such a young core, it is hard for Hylen and the rest of the staff not to envision what the future holds.

“I think all the freshman have been working really hard,” Hylen said. “And it’s going to be fun to see what the next couple of years look like.”