Cyclones Close Home Slate Against Missouri

04.21.2008 | Softball

By: cyclones.com

AMES, Iowa - Iowa State will close out its 2008 home campaign with a doubleheader against Big 12 foe Missouri Wednesday at the Southwest Athletic Complex. The Cyclones and Tigers will open play at 2 p.m. with the second game following shortly after the conclusion of game one. Admission is free.

Schedule
Wednesday, April 23
Missouri at Iowa State, 2 p.m. (DH)

Live Stats
Live stats for both games will be available at Cyclones.com.

Cyclone Notebook
- ISU (26-21, 3-8 Big 12) faces Missouri (40-13, 7-5) in doubleheader action Wednesday as it closes out its 2008 home slate.
- The Cyclones dropped a pair of games to eighth-ranked Oklahoma last weekend. The Cyclones fell 5-3 on Saturday and 9-1 on Sunday. On Sunday, ISU out hit the Sooners, eight to seven, but lost for the first time in 21 games when collecting more hits than its opponent.
- Against the Sooners, Sydni Jones finished 4-for-6 with a double that narrowly missed going out. Jones followed Alex Johnson's homer with a shot that bounced directly on top of the fence and back into play. Kelsey Kidwell was 3-for-7 in the series with two RBI.
- The Cyclone pitching staff struggled early against Oklahoma but eventually settled in. The Cyclones allowed eight runs in the first three innings of both games combined but gave up six in the other eight innings.
- The Cyclones have homered a school-record 29 time this season, surpassing the previous record of 27 in 2002.
- Three Cyclones are on the verge of reaching 100 career hits. Sophomore Courtney Wray needs just two hits while Kristy Olsen and Alex Johnson are six and five hits shy, respectively.
- Iowa State's leading hitter Ariel Coburn had her best game since returning from a broken wrist. Coburn finished 2-for-3 with two homers and a career-high five RBI in ISU's win over Nebraska.
- Amanda Bradberry has reached base safely in 13 of the last 15 games and is hitting .333 during that stretch.
- Sydni Jones is hitting .408 in Big 12 play, which ties her for fifth. Over the past 10 games Jones has been outstanding, hitting .458 (11-for-24).
- Kelsey Kidwell has been hot at the plate recently, batting .375 average over the last five games.
- Courtney Wray has raised her average 100 points from her freshman year to sophomore year. Wray is hitting .350 and ranks 16th in the league in hitting.
- Coburn has 15 extra base hits and eight homers. Her .708 slugging percentage is fourth in the league.
- ISU has turned a league-best 18 double plays on the season.
- ISU has four players with 20+ RBI for the first time since the inception of the Big 12 (1996).
- Iowa State's 26 wins is the most since 1989 when the Cyclones went 32-18-1.
- The Cyclones' .264 team batting average is just below the school record .270 in 1995.

Stat of the Week
- Iowa State is nearing a new school-record for runs batted in on the season with 159. The current mark is 164 in 1988. Alex Johnson leads the team with 30 RBI, which ranks ninth all-time on the single-season chart.

Scouting Missouri (40-13, 7-5 Big 12)
- Missouri enters Wednesday having split last weekend's series at Texas. The 4-1 win on Sunday was the Tigers' first road Big 12 win of the season.
- Against the Longhorns, Rhea Taylor went 5-for-7 with four runs scored and three stolen bases. The Tigers were two-hit by Texas on Saturday and returned the favor by two-hitting the Longhorns on Sunday. Stacy Delaney picked up the win Sunday.
- On the season, Missouri leads the Big 12 with 118 stolen bases, 39 more than the next best team in the league (Baylor). Taylor's 48 stolen bases is 25 more than the second-best base stealer.
- At the plate, Taylor is the league's leading hitter with a .410 average, 73 hits and 54 runs scored. The Tigers also have one of the Big 12's top power hitting lineups with 54 home runs. Amanda Renth leads the conference with 15 homers while teammates Jen Bruck and Lindsey Ubrun are tied for second with 14 each.
- In the circle, Missouri is third in the Big 12 with a 2.15 staff ERA. Delaney is 16-3 with a 2.33 ERA while Bruck is 14-7 and has a 2.60 ERA. The Tigers also have a capable third pitcher in Jana Hainey, who is 10-3 with a 2.33 ERA.
- Missouri leads the all-time series 44-30 and has an 11-10 edge in Ames. The Tigers have won nine of the last 10 in the series.

A New Look
- Third-year Iowa State head coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler is taking a leave of absence as she is on bed rest expecting twins. Assistant coaches Gary Hines and Crystal Turner will serve as acting head coaches and former Cyclone Alyssa Ransom-Tjaden joins the squad as an interim assistant coach.

JUST GRAND
- Alex Johnson has four home runs this season, three of which have been of the grand slam variety. Johnson, who has 10 career homers, has went long with the bases loaded against Southeast Missouri State, Wichita State and Nebraska.

RUN RUN RUN!!!
- For the third-straight year ISU is on the verge of increasing its stolen base total from a year ago. Here is a look at the numbers since head coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler's arrival at ISU:

2006 - 35-for-51
2007 - 63-for-75
2008 - 59-for-77

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
* - Big 12 Tournament Game

What A Game!!
- Sophomore Kelsey Kidwell had a game to remember when she went 4-for-5 with five runs scored and five stolen bases in the Cyclones' win over South Dakota State. The five stolen bases is a school record and leaves her in a tie for sixth in NCAA history. The five runs is also a school record and ties for the 13th-most in the NCAA record books.

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.