ISU To Face Nationally-Ranked Foes This Weekend

AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State softball team takes its hot start to Arizona this weekend to compete in the Hillenbrand Invitational, hosted by defending national champion Arizona. The Cyclones enter the weekend with the best record in school history at 11-1 and will face nationally-ranked Virginia Tech, South Florida, New Mexico State and Illinois-Chicago in addition to the host Wildcats.

Schedule
Friday, Feb. 29
Iowa State at Arizona, 7 p.m.
Iowa State vs. South Florida, 9 p.m.
Saturday, March 1
Iowa State vs. Virginia Tech, 2 p.m.
Iowa State vs. New Mexico State, 9 p.m.
Sunday, March 2
Iowa State vs. Illinois-Chicago, Noon

Live Stats
Live stats for all games will be available at Cyclones.com via arizonaathletics.com.

Cyclone Notebook
- Iowa State (11-1) takes its hot start to Arizona for the Hillenbrand Invitational this weekend. On the slate for the Cyclones are defending national champion Arizona, nationally ranked Virginia Tech, South Florida, New Mexico State and Illinois-Chicago.
- The Cyclones went 5-0 last weekend at the Chattanooga Challenge, defeating Eastern Kentucky, Chattanooga, Lipscomb, Akron and Bowling Green.
- The Cyclones are out scoring opponents 5.8-1.4 and out hitting them 7.5-3.8.
- Iowa State's most productive inning has been the fifth, when they out score their opposition 22-1.
- The Cyclones have four players hitting .350 or better on the season.
- Courtney Wray had a great weekend for Iowa State in Chattanooga. The sophomore, who switched from a slap hitter last year to a stationary hitter this year, hit .500 (8-for-16) and drove in five runs. On the season, Wray is hitting .429 and has seven RBI.
- Kelsey Kidwell has been the Cyclones' leadoff hitter in each game this season and has been very productive, hitting .359 and stealing a team-high five bases.
- Freshman Rachel Zabriskie continues to impress. Zabriskie has thrown three no-hitters in five career starts. In the last 20 years, only one Cyclone (Courtney Dully) has thrown two no-hitters in her career. Since 1988, ISU pitchers have tossed eight no-hitters.
- Wray is riding a five-game hitting streak after last weekend.
- Iowa State has 25 extra base hits on the season and at least one in each game. The Cyclones have five triples this season, which is how many they had in 2007 and more than they have had in four other complete seasons.
- ISU ranks second in the Big 12 in fielding percentage (.979), slightly behind Texas A&M (.985). A year ago the Cyclones finished last in the league with a .950 fielding percentage.
- ISU ranks fourth in the league in team batting (.289) and third in team pitching (1.44).
- Three Cyclones rank in the top-20 in the Big 12 in hitting. Courtney Wray moved up to fifth after a solid weekend while Alex Johnson (.400) sits in ninth and Kidwell (.359) is 14th.

Scouting Arizona (6-4)
- Defending national champion Arizona enters the weekend ranked eighth in this week's USA Today/NFCA poll after going 4-1 last weekend at the Palm Springs Classic.
- The Wildcats have played four ranked teams and posted a 2-2 record against them.
- Arizona is led by a pair of players on the ASA's initial “Watch List” for USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year. Taryne Mowatt returns to the circle after a stellar 2007 campaign in which she was a NFCA second-team All-American and the WCWS Most Outstanding Player. Mowattis 3-3 with a 2.35 ERA this season, with the losses coming to San Diego State, Nevada and Northwestern.

Signal-caller Callista Balko also returns but is hitting just .208 on the season. She has 29 career homers. Freshman Lauren Schutzler leads the team with a .467 batting average while Stacie Chambers hits .400 and has a team-high four home runs.
- The Cyclones are 0-8 all-time against the Wildcats.

Scouting South Florida (8-5)
- South Florida sits at 8-5 after going 2-2 at its own tournament last weekend.
- The Bulls hit just .231 as a team but are led by centerfielder Kit Dunbar, who hits at a .346 clip. USF has drawn 48 walks on the season.
- The Bulls have one of the better pitching staffs around. Courtney Mosch (5-2, 0.59 ERA) and Capri Catalano (2-0, 0.79 ERA) lead the way for a pitching staff that boasts a 1.04 ERA. Mosch was named Big East Pitcher of the Week for her performance last weekend. The senior no-hit Hofstra and then picked up a win over Georgia Tech.
- The Cyclones trail the Bulls 4-5 in the all-time series. USF has won the last five meetings.

Scouting Virginia Tech (9-4)
- The 24th-ranked Hokies went 3-1 last weekend to improve to 9-4 on the season.
- Virginia Tech went 1-1 earlier this season against Missouri.
- The Hokies ride a solid 1-2 punch in the circle, led by Angela Tincher, who has over 1,500 career strikeouts. This season, Tincher is 6-1 with 97 strikeouts and just 12 walks. Sophomore Heather Lowry has posted a 2-0 record with an impressive 0.34 ERA.
- At the plate, third baseman Charisse Mariconda hits .452 while shortstop Misty Hall is second on the team at .313.
- The Cyclones are 0-2 all-time against the Hokies, with both meetings coming in 2005.

Scouting New Mexico State (8-8)
- New Mexico State went 5-0 last weekend en route to its third-straight Troy Cox Classic title.
- The Aggies are led offensively by Stephanie Herrera, who has already collected 30 hits on the season and has a .566 batting average. As a team, the Aggies hit .313 and have 22 stolen bases.
- Junior Kim Watson sees the majority of action in the circle, going 6-5 with a 2.86 ERA. Sophomore Vanessa Fitzgerald is 2-0 with a 3.99 ERA.
- The all-time series between ISU and NMSU is tied at 3-3. The Aggies won 4-0 a year ago at the Marriot Houston Hobby Invitational.

Scouting Illinois-Chicago (2-7)
- After starting the season 2-2, Illinois-Chicago dropped five straight last weekend to fall to 2-7 overall. The Flames lone victories have come against San Diego.
- The Flames hit .309 as a team but have been plagued by pitching. The staff has an ERA of 5.16.
- Catcher Stephanie Chavez leads the Flames' offensive attack, hitting .414 with six RBI. In the circle, Sarah Clynes, who has seen the most action, is still in search of her first win at 0-5. Clynes' ERA is 5.56. Carly DeMarco and Lauren Brennan have each picked up wins for the Flames.
- Illinois-Chicago holds a 1-0 edge in the all-time series against the Cyclones. The lone meeting came in 1992 and resulted in a 2-0 win for the Flames.

No-No x Three
- Rachel Zabriskie has had an incredible start to her career. The freshman from Austin, Texas tossed three no-hitters in the first four starts of her career. In fact, Zabriskie now holds the school record (dating back to 1988) for career no-hitters. Here is a list of all no-no's dating back to 1988:

Year Player - Opponent
2008 Rachel Zabriskie - Chattanooga
2008 Rachel Zabriskie - Louisiana-Monroe
2008 Rachel Zabriskie - UW-Green Bay
2006 Amie Ford - Vermont
1998 Mandy Loushin - Missouri*
1995 Courtney Dully - Drake
1994 Courtney Dully - UT-San Antonio
1989 Maria Schell - Oklahoma

Players Mentioned

Amie Ford

Amie Ford

Alex Johnson

Alex Johnson

Kelsey Kidwell

Kelsey Kidwell

Courtney Wray

Courtney Wray

Rachel Zabriskie

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