Cougar Classic on Tap Next for Cyclones

AMES - The Iowa State softball team heads to the east coast this weekend for a three day tournament at the College of Charleston. The annual Cougar Classic will include teams from Marist, Liberty, Drexel, Notre Dame and host Charleston.

On Friday morning, the Cyclones (6-4) will play Marist and Liberty. Iowa State is the first opponent for each foe in 2011. Marist, a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) finished 10-35 last season while the Big South squad from Liberty boasted a 39-18 overall record.

The Cyclones will be playing Marist and Drexel (0-4) for the first time in program history and have not played Charleston (6-3) or Liberty since 2005 and 2006, respectively. Of those teams Iowa State has faced in the past, Notre Dame (5-0) represents the longest drought in meetings, dating back to two Cyclones wins during the 1991 season.

Play starts at 9 a.m. CST on Friday with the Cyclones game against Marist, followed by Liberty at 11 a.m. CST. Iowa State is scheduled to play Notre Dame at 5 p.m. on Saturday before taking on Drexel at 7 p.m. The final test of the weekend will be Charleston at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

Cyclone Notebook

The Cyclones travel to Charleston, S.C. this weekend for the College of Charleston Cougar Classic. Iowa State will play teams from Marist, Liberty, Notre Dame, Drexel and Charleston during the three day tournament.
Iowa State returned home from a rough first road trip to San Marcos, Texas last weekend where it went 1-3 against Texas State and Purdue.
The Cyclones' game with Kansas on April 22 has been rescheduled for 4 p.m. The game was originally slated for a 2 p.m. first pitch.
Junior Dalyn Varela hit her second homerun of the season in the Cyclones' 11-2 loss to Purdue on Sunday. Varela entered the year with no career home runs in her previous two seasons at Iowa State.
After 10 games, four of Iowa State's starters are hitting above .400. Bianca Lopez leads the team with a .520 batting average, followed by Heidi Kidwell (.455), Tori Torrescano (.424) and Varela (.400).
Lopez and Kidwell rank eighth and 14th, respectively, in the Big 12 in hitting.
With 10 walks already this season, Lopez is tied for the top spot in the league.
In 16.1 innings this season, freshman Bree Holliday has a 0.86 ERA, giving up 18 hits and allowing only two earned runs in two starts and three relief appearances.
Texas State and Purdue exploded on offense against the Cyclones last weekend. The teams hit .349 (ISU's opponents are hitting .299 this season). Leadoff hitters were especially brutal, hitting .792 against the Cyclones.
Leadoff hitters have proven a challenge for Iowa State through the first two weekends of 2011. Foes are hitting .569 (33-for-58) in the leadoff spot.
Lefthanders also exploited Iowa State pitchers in San Marcos, going 28-for-69 (.406), a large mark-up from the season average of .350.
The Cyclone offense struggled against better pitching in week two of the season, hitting only .179 with runners on base and dropping down to .158 when the runners were in scoring position.
Hitting with two outs was scarce over the weekend. The team went 4-for-33 with two outs, an average of .121, in sharp contrast with the season average of .253.
First baseman Varela has been busy this year, already collecting 57 putouts thanks to her groundout-producing pitching staff.
Pinch hitters have struggled for Iowa State early on. In six pinch-hitting appearances, the Cyclones are 0-for-6.
Kidwell's eight-game hit streak to start the season ended in the Cyclones' 8-5 win on Saturday over the Boilermakers.

Zabriskie Eying 700 K's
• Senior pitcher Rachel Zabriskie is the only Iowa State student-athlete to ever eclipse 600 strikeouts. 41 k's away from 700, Zabriskie is 100strikeouts away from joining the top 10 Big 12 strikeout leaders in league history.

1. 659 Rachel Zabriskie, 2008-
2. 495 Courtney Dully, 1994-97
3. 486 Alyssa Ransom, 2004-07
4. 438 Suzanne Wedemeier, 1980-82
5. 391 Erica Martinez, 2000-03
6. 350 Mandy Loushin, 1998-00
7. 344 Lori Young, 1984-85
8. 326 Jen Bice, 2000-03
9. 275 Amie Ford, 2006-08
10. 249 Kelli Alberts, 1985-87

Getting to Know Marist

Iowa State and Marist are meeting for the first time at this year's Cougar Classic.
The Cyclones are Marist's first opponent of the season.
A member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), Marist finished 2010 with an overall record of 10-35 and 4-12 in conference.
Megan Lamoureux is the top returner for the Red Foxes. Lamoureux hit .342 in 15 games last season.
Three full-time starters return for Marist in 2011, led by Nicole Divirgilio who hit .267 starting in all 45 games for the Red Foxes.
Marist returns three pitchers from last season's squad. Danielle Koltz led the staff with a 3.98 ERA in 2010 while Emily Osterhaus started 16 games, completing 13. Caitlin Schell finished 1-8 in nine starts.

Getting to Know Liberty

Iowa State and Liberty have split their two past meetings.
In the first-ever game between the two programs, Liberty walked away with the 2-1 win before the Cyclones rebounded with a 4-1 victory. Both meetings happened in 2006.
Iowa State is Liberty's first opponent of the season.
In 2010, the Lady Flames finished with a 39-18 overall record and finished second in the Big South with a 13-5 mark.
First baseman Kaylee West leads the seven Liberty returners this season. West started all 57 games for the Lady Flames last season and brings a .307 BA into this weekend's meeting with Iowa State.
Juniors Kelly Strickland (.304) and Meredith Baisden (.302) are the other Lady Flames who hit above .300 a year ago.
Liberty also returns its top two pitchers from 2010 in Tiffani Smith (20-7, 2.24 ERA) and Katrina Johnson (11-4, 2.11).

Getting to Know Drexel

Iowa State and Drexel will meet for the first time in the programs' histories on Saturday.
Drexel finished 20-24 last season and 8-13 in the Colonial Athletic Association, sixth in the conference.
The Dragons are looking for their first win of the season, having lost to SIU-Edwardsville, Campbell and Virginia (twice).
Drexel lost its second game with UVA 6-0, but its other three losses came by three runs or less.
Junior Hillary Allen leads the Dragons with a .636 BA in 11 at-bats this spring.
Allen and Shelby Taylor had each started two games for Drexel. Allen has compiled a 4.15 ERA in 13 IP, Taylor has an 8.31 ERA in 8.2 innings.

Getting to Know Notre Dame

Iowa State is 3-0 over the Fighting Irish, last defeating the Big East foe 9-1 and 3-1 at the Houston Games in Houston, Texas, 20 years ago in 1991.
Heading into this weekend's competition, the Irish are undefeated, 5-0, with wins over Miami (Ohio) (twice), UCF, Illinois-Chicago and Delaware.
Catcher Amy Buntin leads all hitters with a 667 BA through three games while five game starters Ale Maldonado and Dani Miller are hitting .500 and .400, respectively.
Laura Winter and Jody Valdivia have picked up two wins apiece in the early going. Winter, in 8.1 IP has compiled a 0.84 ERA and Valdivia sits on a 2.55 ERA after 11 innings of work.

Getting to Know Charleston

The Cyclones have lost their two meetings with Charleston, the last a 2-1 loss in 2005 at the Charleston Cougar Classic.
The Cougars are 4-3 on the year with wins over Campbell, East Tennessee State, Towson and Morehead State.
Outfielder Amanda Lonergan is hitting .375 on 6-of-16 hitting in seven starts.
Sophomore pitcher Stephanie Saylors has started four of the Cougars' seven games, going 2-2 with an ERA of 2.24.

Players Mentioned

Heidi Kidwell

Heidi Kidwell

Tori Torrescano

Tori Torrescano

Dalyn Varela

Dalyn Varela

Rachel Zabriskie

Rachel Zabriskie

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