Completed Event: Softball versus Iowa on April 21, 2026 , Loss , 2, to, 7
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Iowa State University Athletics
ISU Opens Season at Fargodome Tournament
02.08.2008 | Softball
AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State softball team opens its 2008 season with a trip North this weekend. In a strange but true twist, Iowa State will head to Fargo, N.D., for an indoor tournament at the Fargodome that also features the host North Dakota State Bison and the UW-Green Bay Phoenix. The Cyclones will face UW-Green Bay at noon on Saturday before playing NDSU at 2 p.m. The schedule will repeat itself on Sunday, with the games being played at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
The Schedule
Saturday, Feb. 9
Iowa State vs. UW-Green Bay, Noon
Iowa State at North Dakota State, 2 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 10
Iowa State vs. UW-Green Bay, 10 a.m.
Iowa State at North Dakota State, 2 p.m.
Live Stats
Live stats for all ISU games will be available at Cyclones.com by clicking on the live stats tab under the Multimedia menu.
Cyclone Notebook
- Iowa State opens the 2008 season, the 34th season in school history, on Saturday with games against UW-Green Bay and North Dakota State at the Fargodome Tournament in Fargo, N.D. The Cyclones will play two games each against the Phoenix and Bison this weekend.
- Iowa State hasn't won a regular season opener since 2002 when it defeated Santa Clara at the Santa Barbara Tournament. ISU is 13-24 in season opening tournaments since 2000.
- For the first time since it was constructed in 2004, the softball team has been practicing at the $9.6 million, 92,000-square-foot Bergstrom Indoor Facility. ISU has split time between the indoor facility (M-W-F, weekends) and the Lied Recreational Center (T-TH).
- ISU returns four position starters but will have to replace its top hurler (Alyssa Ransom) from a year ago. The Cyclone pitching staff will include senior Amie Ford (13-18, 3.19 ERA), sophomore Charissa Carlin (9-11, 3.48 ERA) and freshman Rachel Zabriskie. Zabriskie (0.87) and Carlin (2.90) were both 4-1 during the fall while Ford was sidelined with an injury.
- Iowa State added two transfers in addition to five freshman. Jacquelyn Beatty, an infielder, hit .362 while leading McLennan Community College (Texas) to the Junior College World Series last year. Beatty is joined by Sydni Jones, an infielder that comes to ISU from top-25 NAIA Rogers State. Jones hit .267 while starting all 46 games at shortstop. She is most likely to see time at first for ISU.
- The Cyclones are coming off a strong fall season in which they went 8-2. Freshman Carrie Monroe played in all 10 games and hit .471 while sophomores Kelsey Kidwell (.429) and Courtney Wray (.400) were among the other players to see action in all 10 games and post a batting average of over .400.
- The Cyclones return three of their top four hitters from a year ago in Alex Johnson (.320), Courtney Wray (.250) and Amanda Bradberry (.231).
- Johnson, a second team all-Big 12 selection as a freshman, broke the rookie record with 62 hits. The Raymore, Mo., native was just the second Cyclone ever to surpass 60 hits in a season.
- Iowa State is the youngest team in the Big 12 with 12-of-its-16 players being freshmen or sophomores. Missouri is the second youngest with 14-of-20 players with under two years of collegiate experience.
- The Cyclones will be on the road for the first 34 games of the 60-game schedule.
- ISU finished with 63 stolen bases last year, raising their total from the previous season for the second straight year under Gemeinhardt-Cesler. That trend figures to continue as the Cyclones increase team speed under Gemeinhardt-Cesler's direction.
- The Cyclones were picked last in the Big 12 preseason poll. Texas A&M was selected first and Oklahoma second.
Scouting Wisconsin-Green Bay
- UW-Green Bay is coming off a 2007 season in which they went 17-23 overall and 9-7 in Horizon League action.
- Like the Cyclones, UW-Green Bay's top hitter in 2007 was a freshman. Katie Cooney, an infielder, hit .333 a year ago to lead the Phoenix.
- Cooney and fellow returnees Anna Bluemel and Mollie Kaebisch garnered second-team all-Horizon League honors last season. Kaebisch was second on the team with a .308 batting average while Bluemel had a 2.21 ERA while going 5-12. Cooney also saw time in the circle last year, going 7-7 with a 3.91 ERA.
- The Phoenix were tabbed eighth in the Horizon League preseason poll as selected by the league's coaches.
- The Cyclones and Phoenix have never met prior to this weekend.
- Jean Rivett is in the fourth season of her second stint as head coach at UW-Green Bay. Rivett has a career record of 87-126.
Scouting North Dakota State
- North Dakota State went 34-23 last year, including a doubleheader split with the Cyclones in Ames. NDSU is in its first year of play in the Summit League and will be eligible for postseason play for the first time at the Division I level.
- Against the Cyclones last year, Division I Independent Pitcher of the Year Allison Bakke tossed 4.2 innings of two-hit ball in relief to help the Bison to the 8-2 win in game two. Melissa Chmielewski was 2-for-3 with three RBI in the game.
The Cyclones won the first game 3-1 behind a solid pitching performance from Alyssa Ransom.
- Bakke, a senior, went 22-13 on the year and posted an impressive 1.33 ERA with 243 strikeouts. Chmielewski, Division I Independent Newcomer of the Year hit .317 and drove in 49 runs. Kelly Cantrell, NDSU's leading hitter a year ago, also returns after posting a .365 batting average and cracking 62 hits.
- The Cyclones lead the all-time series 4-1. The teams have never met in Fargo.
- Darren Mueller is in his seventh season as the head coach of NDSU. He holds a career record of 213-111.
Stat of the Week
Iowa State will play 12 games against teams that are ranked in the top-25 of ESPN.com/USA Softball's preseason poll. ISU has last season's national champion Arizona on its slate, which marks the first game against a ranked opponent.
Austin Connection
- Iowa State added three players from Austin, Texas this season to bring its total number of Texans to five. Freshmen Rachel Zabriskie and Carrie Monroe and junior college transfer Jacquelyn Beatty all hail from Texas. Senior Amie Ford (Katy, Texas) and freshman Sara Stinson (Mesquite, Texas) round out the Cyclones that hail from the Lone Star State.
Players Mentioned
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/ SoftballTuesday, May 05
Tuesday, May 05
Tuesday, May 05
Sunday, May 03
