Cyclones Head West For NIST

AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State softball team will travel to Sunnyvale, Calif., to take part in the National Invitational Softball Tournament, hosted by San Jose State University, Mar. 9-11. The Cyclones will play five games in the 12-team field, before playing a game against Eastern Illinois following the tournament's conclusion.

Schedule
Friday, Mar. 9
Iowa State vs. Cal Poly, 5 p.m.
Iowa State vs. Santa Clara, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Mar. 10
Iowa State vs. California, 2:30 p.m.
Iowa State vs. UC Davis, 5 p.m.
Sunday, Mar. 11
Iowa State vs. UC Riverside, 1:30 p.m.
Iowa State vs. Eastern Illinois 3 p.m.
* The game against Eastern Illinois is not part of the tournament and will be held immediately following the game against UC Riverside.

Looking Back
The Cyclones dominated UMKC Tuesday afternoon, sweeping the doubleheader with a pair of 11-2 wins ... Ashley Killeen became the school's all-time leader when she drove in three runs in the second game ... Killeen, who passed Erica Martinez (2000-03), now has 91 career RBI ... Freshman Amanda Bradberry recorded her first three-hit game, going 3-for-3 in the second game ... Bradberry also blasted her first career home run in the win ... Kristy Olsen went 5-for-9 in the doubleheader, raising her batting average nearly 60 points, from .205 to .264 ... Olsen stole two bases in each game and improved to 9-for-9 on the season ... Alex Johnson drove in four runs in the first game ... Charissa Carlin and Amie Ford picked up their third wins of the season.

Ransom Expected Back
Senior pitcher Alyssa Ransom is expected to return to action this weekend after missing the last 12 games with a throwing arm injury.

Run Scoring Machine
No player in Iowa State history has produced as many runs as Ashley Killeen, who broke the career record for RBI against UMKC Tuesday ... Killeen, a native of Papillion, Neb., has now driven in 91 RBI, surpassing Erica Martinez (2000-03), who drove in 88 in her illustrious career ... Killeen, who has 29 career homers, will now try to break Martinez's home run mark of 27.

Scouting Cal Poly (13-6)
Cal Poly is coached by arguably the greatest player in Iowa State softball history, Jenny Condon ... Condon (1987-90) is the only Cyclone softball player in the Iowa State Athletics Hall of Fame and still holds the career records for hits (216), batting average (.351), triples (24) and runs scored (120) ... the Mustangs enter the tournament 3-2 in their last five games, including a loss to Big 12 foe Texas Tech on Sunday ... leadoff hitter and centerfielder Lisa Modglin leads the Big West with an impressive .476 batting average for the Mustangs, who hit .303 as a team ... shortstop Melissa Pura hits .404 and has a team-high 20 RBI ... in the circle, the Mustangs have a team earned run average of 2.24 ... Robyn Kontra is 5-0 with a 1.56 ERA, while Jenna Maiden is 5-3 and has a 3.36 ERA ... Cal Poly leads the all-time series, 3-2, with ISU winning the last meeting in 2003.

Scouting Santa Clara (2-19)
Santa Clara is 2-19, with its only wins coming against UC Davis and UT-San Antonio, with a mid-week doubleheader against Idaho State scheduled for Wednesday ... the Broncos hit just .214 as a team with a pitching staff that's ERA is at 5.12 ... leadoff hitter Angela Kabanuck, who has seven doubles, leads the team with a .365 batting average ... right fielder/pitcher Jackie Morales has driven in a team-high 10 runs ... Morales gets the majority of the work from the pitching circle, posting a 1-4 record with a 4.37 ERA this season ... Jerrica Castagno has the other win for the Broncos this season ... Santa Clara holds a 3-0 edge in the all-time series.

Scouting Cal (13-9)
California, the No. 23 team in the nation, sits at 13-9 with a game against Loyola-Chicago slated for Wednesday ... the Golden Bears and Cyclones have played one common opponent, Mississippi State ... the Cyclones split a pair of games with the Bulldogs, while Cal lost 9-0 to MSU ... Christina Schallig is one of the top hitters in the nation, boasting a .429 batting average with 20 RBI ... third baseman Katie Vickers has a team-high 21 RBI to go along with a .333 average from the plate ... in the circle, three pitchers split time for the staff, which has a 3.56 team ERA ... Marissa Drewrey (5-3) has the most wins on the staff but also has the highest ERA (4.83) ... Lauren Frankiewicz sees the most time and is 4-4 with a 2.88 ERA, while Brittany LaRosa has a 3.50 ERA and is 4-2 on the season ... the Cyclones and Golden Bears have split four all-time meetings.

Scouting UC Davis (8-7-1)
UC Davis is 8-7-1 after going 2-2 last weekend ... the Aggies have a mid-week doubleheader scheduled against St. Mary's for Wednesday ... senior third baseman Nikki Sheldon leads the Aggies, hitting .432 with a team-high five homers ... in the circle, Jessica Hancock (4-3, 3.04 ERA) and Lindsay Tognetti (3-3, 5.97 ERA) split the majority of the time ... this will be the first meeting between the Cyclones and Aggies.

Scouting UC Riverside (10-11)
The Highlanders are 3-2 in their last five games and enter the tournament with a 10-11 record ... designated player Marissa Alvidrez leads all regulars with a .389 ... Danira Iolamo has a team-best 18 RBI for the Highlanders, who average five runs a game but also allow five ... Stephanie Marshall (5-5, 3.45 ERA) and Christina Songer (5-2, 2.97 ERA) are the top pitchers on a staff that has a 4.07 earned run average ... this will be the first meeting between the Cyclones and Highlanders.

Scouting Eastern Illinois (6-5)
The Panthers and Cyclones will meet in a game following the conclusion of the NIST ... EIU enters the weekend 6-5 after picking up wins over Missouri State and Tulsa ... the Panthers are solid from the top of their order to the bottom, hitting .304 as a team ... outfielder Lauren Brackett paces the team at .375 with Robyn Mackie and Katy Steele not far behind at .353 ... Kathleen Jacoby (4-1, 2.33 ERA) and Karyn Mackie (2-1, 2.14 ERA) are the top pitchers for the Panthers, who are 2-0 in one-run games this season ... the all-time series between the Cyclones and Panthers is tied at 1-1.

Players Mentioned

Amanda Bradberry

Charissa Carlin

Amie Ford

Amie Ford

Alex Johnson

Ashley Killeen

Ashley Killeen

Kristy Olsen

Kristy Olsen

Alyssa Ransom

Alyssa Ransom

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