The ISU softball team will face a road test at the San Diego Classic.

The Cyclones are coming off of an impressive three-game winning streak last week at the University of Texas-San Antonio Classic. The Cyclones put on an offensive showcase, scoring 22 runs in three games.

One of the key contributors to the scoring success was freshman outfielder Kelsey McFarland, who hit her second grand slam of the season during the Cyclones comeback win against Texas-San Antonio.

“It felt great getting the grand slam,” Mcfarland said. “But it is not about that. It was a team win. Sammie Hildreth had a great hit after to drive in two more runs that we needed.”

Scoring was not the only successful aspect of the Cyclones’ game at the Classic.

The combination pitching effort helped out the Cyclones as well. The three Cyclones who pitched, freshman Brianna Weilbacher, sophomore Katie Johnson and senior Stacy Roggentien combined their successes for 13 strikeouts. Roggentien also earned a save.

Although the Cyclones went a perfect 3-0 this past weekend, there are always improvements to make.

One of the improvements that coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler hopes to witness will come in the form of hitting success.

“We do a good job offensively, but then how do we get better at pitch selection?” Gemeinhardt-Cesler posed. “[We] attack when counts are in our favor and not getting hung up on what type of pitching it is. So execution … will be a key for this weekend.”

Gemeinhardt-Celser is not the only one on the team who believes that attacking the ball is an area of needed improvement.

“My offense needs to be more aggressive,” said freshman infielder Nychole Antillon. “I need to attack early in my counts and make use of what I have.”

The Cyclones will attempt to make the improvements that they have focused on in practice this week toward continued success as they take on California-Davis, North Dakota, Cal Poly, San Diego State and Grand Canyon this weekend in San Diego, Calif.

Iowa State will face California-Davis at 11 a.m. and North Dakota at 4 p.m. Feb. 27.

Iowa State will then play Cal Poly at 4 p.m. and San Diego State at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 28. The Cyclones will wrap up the San Diego Classic facing Grand Canyon 11 a.m. March 1.