Iowa State Hosts Iowa in Cy-Hawk Series Showdown

AMES, Iowa - The Cyclones play host to Iowa in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series Tuesday afternoon at the Cyclone Sports Complex. Iowa State leads the series, 12-11, entering the matchup, with the winner clinching the 2021-22 series for its school.

The Matchup: Iowa State (21-24, 2-10 Big 12) vs. Iowa (19-25, 2-15 Big Ten)
Where: Ames, Iowa - Cyclone Sports Complex
When: Tuesday, April 26 - 4 p.m.
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Live Stats: Cyclones.com

Key Storylines

Iowa State is coming off a sweep at the hands of No. 1 Oklahoma in Norman last weekend. The Cyclones dropped a tough series opener, 6-4, before falling, 9-0 (5 Inn.) in the next two games. ISU crossed three runs in the third inning of game one against the Sooners, which tied for the most runs Oklahoma has given up in an inning this season.
The Cyclones have turned 20 double plays, .44 per game, which is the 22nd-best average in the country.
ISU has hit 71 doubles this season, the 17th-most nationally.
The Cyclones are no strangers to playing in close games. Fifteen of ISU's games have been decided by two runs or less. The Cyclones are 4-11 in such games, including 3-6 in games decided by one run. Iowa State has left the tying or winning run stranded in scoring position in the final inning of three of those 10 losses and has lost via walk off three times.
Iowa State upset No. 6 Oklahoma State back on April 9, the highest ranked opponent the Cyclones have defeated since beating No. 3 Texas in 2005. It was just the eighth win over a top 10 foe in program history.
Carli Spelhaug, who is 41-of-41 on stolen base attempts in her career, is the only active Division I player with a perfect stolen base percentage (min. 40 attempts).
Spelhaug is averaging 1.11 runs per game (14th nationally). With 50 runs scored this season, she is one of two players in program history to reach the threshold in two different seasons.
Mikayla Ramos has logged 48 RBIs in 45 games this season, the 16th-most in the country. Last season, Ramos batted in 57 runs to break Iowa State's single-season RBI record. By comparison, Ramos had 45 RBIs through 45 games in 2021. Ramos got off to a hot start this season but has struggled since conference play began. The senior has begun to right the ship, however, with five hits, including four doubles, over the last two weekends.
Saya Swain is one of 10 pitchers in the nation to log two games with 16+ strikeouts this season. Her 9.5 strikeouts per seven innings rank 32nd nationally.

Cy-Hawk Series

The Cy-Hawk Series is in its 17th season in 2021-22 and is sponsored for the 10th time by Iowa Corn.
The series awards two points (except football, which is worth three) to the winning school in each head-to-head match-up between the two institutions.
Iowa State trails in the all-time series standings, 7-8-1.
Iowa State leads the 2021-22 series, 12-11, following wins in men's and women's cross country, men's and women's basketball, women's swimming and women's tennis.
Iowa holds wins in women's soccer, football, volleyball, wrestling, and gymnastics.
This is just the fourth time in Cy-Hawk Series history that neither school has clinched entering the final sport of the athletic calendar.

Series History

Iowa State leads, 42-36-2
Last Meeting: 4/9/19 (W, 2-0)
Streak: W2
Trends: ISU has won four of last five meetings; Iowa State has not lost to Iowa at home since 2008.

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Players Mentioned

Mikayla Ramos

Carli Spelhaug

Saya Swain

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics