Iowa State Opens Big 12 Championship Against Baylor

AMES, Iowa - Iowa State begins its postseason Thursday at noon against Baylor in the Big 12 Championship. The Cyclones earned the No. 4 seed, their highest ever at the tournament, courtesy of a fourth-place finish in the league.

The Matchup: Iowa State (27-26, 6-12 Big 12) vs. Baylor (28-23, 6-12 Big 12)
Where: Oklahoma City, Okla. - USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium
When: Thursday, May 12 (Noon)
Watch: ESPNU
Live Stats: Cyclones.com

Key Storylines

Iowa State finished the regular season 27-26 overall and 6-12 in Big 12 play. The Cyclones' fourth-place finish in the league standings was their best in program history.
Iowa State is 2-6 in the Big 12 Championship under head coach Jamie Pinkerton. This will be the fifth meeting between Iowa State and Baylor at the championship. The two programs have split the previous four meetings. This marks the second consecutive season the Cyclones will see Baylor at the Big 12 Championship after ISU defeated the Bears, 3-1, in the fifth-place game last year.
Four Cyclones were selected for All-Big 12 honors this week. Mikayla Ramos and Carli Spelhaug were each named to the All-Big 12 Second Team while Angelina Allen and Kaylee Pond received All-Big 12 Freshman Team honors. Iowa State's four honorees are the most the program has had since 2015.
ISU surged down the final stretch of the regular season, winning six of its last eight games including back-to-back series victories against Baylor and Kansas.
The run of late success was largely due to great pitching. The Iowa State pitching staff posted a 2.25 ERA over the stretch and played only one game in which it allowed more than four runs.
Karlie Charles has come on strong lately. The righty has struck out 14 batters, walked none and allowed only two earned runs on seven hits in her last five appearances (18.1 IP).
Angelina Allen is hitting a team-best .444 with a pair of home runs and a double over the last eight games. The freshman went 8-of-13 (.615 AVG) and scored five runs on the final week of the regular season.
In last weekend's series victory against Kansas, Iowa State trailed 7-1 in game one before coming back to win on a walk-off sac fly by Kasey Simpson. Simpson went 4-of-11 with a double, home run and five RBIs last week.
Carli Spelhaug, who is 43-of-44 on stolen base attempts in her career, is tied for second among active Division I players in stolen base percentage (.977).
Spelhaug missed the final four games of the regular season due to an ankle injury sustained in the series finale at Baylor. It snapped a 128-game start streak for the junior, dating back to the third game of her career in 2020.
Kaylee Pond enters the Big 12 Championship on a team-best nine-game reached-base streak.
Mikayla Ramos has logged 53 RBIs in 50 games this season, the 19th-most in the country. She is five away from breaking the single-season school record (57) that she set last season. Ramos is the only player in program history to drive in 50+ runs in more than one season of her career.
The Cyclones are no strangers to playing in close games this season. Twenty of ISU's games have been decided by two runs or less. The Cyclones are 7-13 in such games, including 5-8 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.

Series History

Baylor leads, 44-19
Last Meeting: 5/1/22 (W, 6-1)
Streak: W2
Trends: Teams split four games in 2021; ISU has won seven of last eight meetings; Cyclones won the 2022 series, 2-1, in Waco.

Iowa State Opens Big 12 Championship Against Baylor

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Players Mentioned

Angelina Allen

Karlie Charles

Kaylee Pond

Mikayla Ramos

Kasey Simpson

Carli Spelhaug

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Iowa State University Athletics

Iowa State Opens Big 12 Championship Against Baylor

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Angelina Allen

Karlie Charles

Kaylee Pond

Mikayla Ramos

Kasey Simpson

Carli Spelhaug

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