Softball To Open 2017 At Louisiana Classic

Friday, February 10

Lafayette, La.

5:30 PM

Iowa State

Louisiana

Softball To Open 2017 At Louisiana Classic

02.08.2017 | Softball

Notes Live Scoring vs. UL-Lafayette Live Stream vs. UL-Lafayette Video

AMES, Iowa - Iowa State Softball officially begins the Jamie Trachsel era this weekend, as the Cyclones open the 2017 season at the 31^st Annual Louisiana Classic in Lafayette, La.

The event runs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and features the Cyclones taking on No. 11 UL-Lafayette, Southern Miss and Ball State once each, as well as a pair of games vs. DePaul.

ISU opens the tournament and their season against No. 11 UL-Lafayette on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Lamson Park, where the Ragin' Cajuns went 24-1 a season ago. On Saturday, Iowa State will play DePaul at 9 a.m., followed by Southern Miss at 11:30 a.m. Sunday features another Cyclone back-to-back, with a match-up against Ball State at 9 a.m., followed by an 11:15 a.m. game against DePaul to close out the weekend.

31^st Annual Louisiana Classic
Where: Lafayette, Louisiana – Lamson Park
When: Friday, Feb. 10 – Sunday, Feb. 12
Broadcast/Live Stream: Iowa State's first game of the tournament – vs. No. 11 Louisiana-Lafayette – will be streamed live here.
Live Stats: Live stats for games involving UL-Lafayette will be provided by ragincajuns.com.
Live Updates: Follow @CycloneSB on Twitter for live in-game updates from the field.

Cyclone Headlines
-The Iowa State softball team opens the 2017 season at the 31st Annual Louisiana Classic in Lafayette, La. The Cyclones will play five games at the tournament, facing No. 11 UL-Lafayette, Southern Miss, Ball State and DePaul (2x).

-This weekend's tournament will mark the beginning of the Jamie Trachsel era. The eighth head coach in program history comes to Iowa State from North Dakota State, where she was Co-Head Coach for six years.

-While at NDSU, Trachsel coached the the Bison to five NCAA Regionals and 10 conference championships (five regular season, five postseason). During her six-year stint as Co-Head Coach, the Bison went 221-109, including 98-19 in conference play.

-For the first time since 2010, Iowa State will not be opening the season with the Cyclone Invitational, played in the Bergstrom Indoor Complex. As a result, ISU will play its first 31 games of the season away from home.

-Iowa State returns nine players who started at least 15 games last season, as well as its entire pitching staff. The Cyclones went 20-35 (1-17 Big 12) in 2016. Gone from last season are a strong senior class of Brittany Gomez, Aly Cappaert and Sammie Hildreth.

-Cathlin Bingham returns following a strong junior campaign in which she hit .328 for 18 RBIs and 34 runs scored. The Ankeny, Iowa native also drew a single-season school record 31 walks in 2016.

-In the circle, Savannah Sanders and Emma Hylen will look to build on strong freshman campaigns after handling the bulk of the pitching work a season ago. Sanders was Iowa State's top option, striking out a team-high 111 batters while holding opponents to a .271 batting average.

-Another sophomore, Kirsten Caudle, will be looked to for increased production after a 2016 campaign that earned her Big 12 All-Freshman Team honors. Caudle hit .296 with 10 RBIs and 16 runs scored a season ago.

-The Cyclones bring in a five-player freshman class of Megan Schweitzer, Logan Schaben, Sami Williams, Jaiden Johnson and Talyn Lewis, all of whom made an impact during the fall schedule.