ISU softball team searches for spark from senior week
The ISU softball team lines up after introductions and awaits the national anthem. The team lost 6-5 against Texas Tech on May 3.
May 8, 2015
The ISU softball team will try to give the seniors one last hurrah in its last series of the year against the Kansas.
Iowa State is coming off two straight losses against Texas Tech, in which inconsistent hitting was the headline for the Cyclones.
In the series against Texas Tech, Iowa State scored five runs in the first game, one run in the second and five runs in the third game. The Cyclones will have to get back on the consistent track when they take on the Jayhawks.
“So far this week in practice, we have been primarily focusing on hitting,” said senior second baseman Maddie Reese.
It is no surprise that hitting has been the main focus this week for Iowa State as the team faces one of the better pitching rotations in the Big 12.
This season, Kansas is fourth best in pitching in the Big 12. The Jayhawks have a team ERA of 3.79 and have allowed six hits per game through 48 games this season. Kansas also possesses one of the best pitchers in the Big 12 — junior Alicia Pille.
“Pille does great for them in the circle,” said ISU softball head coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler. “It just seems like she [Pille] can throw anything from a curve to a fastball.”
Not only can Piller throw almost every type of pitch imaginable, she can also get players to go down swinging. Pille is third in the Big 12 with 173 strikeouts this season.
“We just have to attack every ball we see,” said junior outfielder Brittany Gomez.
A factor that could spark the ISU offense is senior weekend.
This series marks the last time seniors Lexi Slater, Maddie Reese, Jorden Spendlove, Stacy Roggentien, Paris Imholz and Hayley Womack’s will don an ISU uniform. No one on the team wants to let them down.
“Everyone will make sure they are on their ‘A’ game,” Reese said. “Hopefully we come out with three wins.”
If Iowa State wins at least one of games in the series, it will be .500 for the first time since 2008. If the Cyclones win the series, it will be their first winning season since 1995.
The Cyclones will open their last series at 4 p.m. May 8 at the Cyclone Sports Complex. Game two will be at 12 p.m. May 9 and game three will begin at 12 p.m. May 10.
