Softball Set For Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State softball team is set for postseason play and this weekend's 2018 Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship in Oklahoma City, Okla. The tournament, which will be played at ASA Hall of Fame Softball Complex, will start with pool play on Friday.

The Cyclones, who enter the tournament as the No. 6 seed will face fourth-seeded Texas (11 a.m.) and the No. 1 seed Oklahoma (7:30 p.m.) on day one. ISU will then play one game Saturday, with the opponent and time to be determined by the outcome of Friday's pool play games.

Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship
Where: Oklahoma City, Okla.
When: Friday, May 11 – Saturday, May 12
Watch: Game 1 vs. Texas will be streamed live on FloSoftball.com. Game 2 vs. Oklahoma will be on FOX College Sports and streamed on FOX Sports GO.
Live Updates: Follow @CycloneSB on Twitter for live in-game updates from the field.

Cyclone Headlines
-The Cyclones secured their bid to the conference postseason tournament with an extra-inning win on May 5 vs. Kansas. Freshman Skyler Ramos recorded the first extra-base hit of her career in the top of the eighth inning, and later scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch to lock Iowa State into a Big 12 Championship berth.

-Iowa State advances to the Big 12 Championship for the second consecutive season, after clinching the No. 5 seed in 2017. The Cyclones will look to win their first conference postseason game since May 8, 2009 vs. Kansas. (Note: the Big 12 postseason tournament was not played from 2011-2016).

-Senior Nychole Antillon and sophomore Sami Williams were both honored by the league's coaches as All-Big 12 Second Team selections. It is Williams' second All-Big 12 honor, while Antillon is making her debut on the all-conference team. Iowa State had not had multiple All-Big 12 selections since 2015.

-Head coach Jamie Pinkerton, who is in his first season at the program's helm, has the Cyclones playing their best in tight games. With the 4-3 eight-inning victory over Kansas on May 5, Iowa State improved to 6-0 in extra-inning games, and is also 9-3 in games decided by one run. Last season, Iowa State was 1-2 in extra innings and 8-7 in games games decided by one run.

-Iowa State has hit a single-season school record 43 home runs this season, breaking the previous program mark of 40 set during Pinkerton's first stint at Iowa State as an assistant coach in 2013. Sami Williams leads the way with 11 home runs on the year, followed by Sydney Stites, Kaylee Bosworth and Nychole Antillon with seven each. Freshman Cara Beatty hit the record-breaking home run, on what was the first homer of her career.

-The Cyclones are no stranger to playing on the road, with just seven of their 53 regular season contests being played at home. ISU is the only Power 5 program in the nation that has played fewer than 12 home games so far in 2018, and is tied for No. 7 nationally in NCAA DI for fewest home games played.

-The NCAA released the first RPI rankings of the season on March 20. Iowa State was ranked No. 57 on March 27, the program's best standing since the NCAA began to release weekly RPIs in 2011. The Cyclones are No. 72 in this week's RPI rankings, and have the No. 27 strength of schedule.

-Sami Williams tallied three hits at Kansas as she continued to climb Iowa State's single-season top 10 for the second consecutive season. She is just the second player in program history to appear on the single-season hits chart multiple times (Brittany Gomez). Williams tallied 66 base hits as a freshman to tie for sixth on ISU's season charts, and has 71 so far in 2018 - 8 shy of the single-season record of 79 set by Gomez in 2015.

-As a sophomore, Williams has already secured spots in the program's top-10 for career doubles (34 - No. 7) and home runs (19 - T-No. 8). Her .373 career batting average would rank No. 2 on Iowa State's career list, while her .384 average in 2018 would place No. 6 on the single-season list.

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Players Mentioned

Nychole Antillon

Cara Beatty

Kaylee Bosworth

Brittany Gomez

Skyler Ramos

Sydney Stites

Sami Williams

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics