ISU softball has historically been an offensive juggernaut under coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler. Her teams are usually a great mix of high speed and on-base percentage along with explosive power. 

Her Iowa State offenses are versatile, being able to adjust to low scoring games, but also well suited for a shootout. They never have issues scoring runs. 

So far, the ISU softball team has been something of an enigma, averaging 4.5 runs per game, which is a solid amount of runs overall. 

However, the team is struggling to score runs, especially in close games. The Cyclones are a measly 1-5 in one-run games and have lost five games in walk-off fashion.

Iowa State also has an above average team on-base percentage of .355, which makes this an even more confusing situation. 

“We are getting people on base, we just have to find ways to bring them home,” said senior Brittany Gomez. 

Looking through Iowa State’s last four wins, three of the contests have been total blow outs. Winning each game by at least five runs. 

But looking at their most recent losses, the Cyclones have only had three games where they scored more than one run and still lost. 

“I think we just need to find our rhythm, when we find a way to get people on, we need to score them no matter where we’re at in the lineup,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “Just executing whenever we get people on, that is going to be the key.”

Digging deeper into the lineup, it becomes clear that almost all of the run production from this team is coming from four Cyclones. 

Gomez, Aly Cappaert, Cathlin Bingham, and Kelsey McFarlan are responsible for more than 50 percent of the team’s total runs on the season. 

That is both impressive and terrifying as the Cyclones are far too dependent on those four players to create runs and capitalize on scoring opportunities. 

The team has been without first basemen Rachel Hartman, who drove in 15 runs before missing the last few weeks with an upper body injury. But Hartman is on of the best hitter in Cyclone history and the team sorely misses her production. 

Senior catcher Sammie Hildreth was huge this weekend in the Cyclones’ lone win against Bison, driving in six runs on two three-run home runs. But without her, the Cyclones would’ve only scored three runs on the season. 

The Cyclones will be searching for a more consistent way of scoring, whether that be evening out the lineup or asking players to step up.