ISU softball (14-14, Big 12 0-0) will welcome warmer weather and Indiana State (7-23, MVC 0-0) to Ames on Wednesday for a double-header.

Iowa State is coming off a series split with North Dakota State over the weekend, winning the second game of the series. They have had trouble finishing games this season. The Cyclones have lost games in the late innings too many times, and senior Aly Cappaert thinks it just comes down to more timely hitting.

“We need to make sure that when we’re getting base runners on that were scoring them,” Cappaert said. “As an offense, we’re finding ways to get runners on, we’re just not moving them.”

The Cyclones want to score roughly six runs, and believe that with that type of run support their pitchers can compete with confidence.

However, Iowa State seems to have trouble with the bottom portion of their lineup performing, with only a handful of Cyclones hitting over .300, but Cappaert thinks the issue is something else.

“I think it more just situational hitting, just knowing where the runners are and where you need to hit the ball,” Cappaert said.

Along with the offensive issues, the Cyclones have had trouble closing out games, losing far too many games in the late innings. Coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler knows her young team is still learning, but is asking her team to execute better in those moments.

“Just in the end, I think it is a combination of two things: We need to score more runs initially throughout the game, and then just close the door in the seventh inning,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “So I think if can figure those two things out, we can start winning more of these late-innings games.”

There is a silver lining to these late-inning losses, as many of the tighter contests came against some of the better teams in NCAA softball. Senior shortstop Brittany Gomez tries to keep everything in perspective.

“There are a lot of times when we just can’t finish games, we should be getting more runs, but at the same time we play a lot of good teams and it showed us that we can compete,” Gomez said.

And those teams will only get better, as the Cyclones welcome Big 12 play this weekend when Baylor comes into town for a three-game set. The Cyclones will be ready, Gomez said.

“In order to be the best,” she said, “You have to play the best.”