Iowa State at BYU / Utah Valley Primer

Who: Iowa State at BYU / Utah Valley

Where: Gail Miller Field – Provo, Utah / Wolverine Softball Field – Orem, Utah

When: April 18-20 – 7, 7 & 2 p.m. / April 21 – 12 p.m.

Leading Off
Following an eight-game home stand which was capped with a series win over No. 5 Oklahoma State, the Cyclones will hit the road for the first time since the end of March as they head to Utah for a Big 12 series against BYU before concluding the trip with a game against Utah Valley on Sunday.

ISU (16-22, 5-10 Big 12) picked up three wins last week, downing DePaul before taking two games from the Cowgirls over the weekend. The Cyclones were meant to play a midweek contest on Tuesday against intrastate rival Iowa but the game was postponed due to severe weather in Ames.

BYU (23-19, 5-13 Big 12) is 3-6 through nine April games and are coming off a series at the defending national champion Oklahoma Sooners. BYU was able to defeat OU in Norman once over the weekend as it became the first Big 12 foe to win at Oklahoma since 2017. More recently, the Cougars downed Idaho State 10-4 on Tuesday.

Utah Valley (16-22, 9-7 WAC) has won two of its last five contests, taking one game against UT Arlington on the road as part of a three game series, as well as downing BYU (12-10) in Orem. The Wolverines struggled out of the gate, going 0-4 in Puerto Vallarta to start the year, but have found their footing as the team hits the homestretch of the season.

Quick Hits:

Iowa State has recorded double-digit runs in a game four times so far this season. It had only two such games in 2023.
Iowa State earned its third win over a ranked team over the weekend. It's the second straight year that ISU has earned at least three ranked wins.
The Cyclones have been a bit feast or famine early in the season, as the team averages 7.6 runs scored a game in wins but just 2.3 runs in losses.
Junior outfielder Angelina Allen has been phenomenal to start the season. She's 23rd in the country in hits (57) which is tops in the Big 12. Her 13 doubles are first in the conference and rank her 38th nationally.
- Allen has 103 total bases on the season, the fourth most in the Big 12. Allen has the fourth-best batting average in the conference (.442) and ranks 23rd nationally.
- Allen was awarded the Big 12 Player of the Week award on March 5, making her the first Cyclone to earn the award since Sami Williams in 2021.
Milaysia Ochoa broke the program record for most HBP at Oklahoma in the Big 12 opening weekend, being struck by her 29th pitch.
- Ochoa and Allen are tied with 13 doubles on the season to lead the Big 12.
Senior Saya Swain recorded her seventh career save in Vegas earlier this season. She needs two more to break the all-time program record.
Iowa State has been a late-inning team, outscoring its opponents in the fifth, sixth and seventh inning having made multiple late-inning comeback wins.

Leading the Cyclones
The Cyclone offense both literally and statistically starts with a pair of lefties in Ochoa and Allen. Allen leads the Cyclones in most every offensive category outside of runs, triples and walks drawn. Ochoa, a fellow team captain, has complimented Allen nicely at the top of the order. From the leadoff spot, Milaysia is hitting .322 with 22 walks drawn and five HBP.

Alesia Ranches has had a solid season for the Cyclones too, as the fifth-year senior is batting .296 with 32 hits and 22 RBI. Olivia Wardlow, Ashley Minor, Tiana Poole and Carli Spelhaug all have over 20 hits and help power the Cyclone offense. Overall, ISU's offense slashes .269/.363/.453 and averages 4.2 runs per game.

All six players on the Cyclone pitching staff have seen the circle this season, with seniors Saya Swain and Karlie Charles leading the way. Charles holds a 4.01 ERA and has pitched a team-high 57.2 innings. Swain, who has the lowest ERA on the team with a 2.07, hasn't pitched since mid-February due to injury.

Lauren Schurman, Jaiden Ralston, Aziza Rodriguez and Tatum Johnson make up the remainder of the staff, with all being either a sophomore or freshman. Ralston has a team-best 44 strikeouts and opposing hitters bat just .283 against her. As a staff, ISU holds a 5.26 ERA with three complete games and opposing batters are hitting .309.

Opponent Outlook
BYU
The Cougars boast the third-highest batting average in the league, as four athletes tote a batting average over .300. Leading the way is Ailana Agbayani who has been battling ISU's Allen for the conference lead in hits all season. Agbayani is currently in first with 59 and has a team-high .438 batting average.

Also batting over .300 and joining Agbayani are Violet Zavodnik (.409), Huntyr Ava (.393), Lily Owens (.376) and Maddie Udall (.306). Seven Cougars have at least four homers while Ava has the third-most RBI in the conference with 49. Overall, BYU's offense slashes .327/.417/.508 and averages 6.8 runs per game.

BYU's pitching is split fairly evenly between Chloe Temples, Kate Dahle and Gianna Mares. All three have over 20 appearances and at least 60 innings pitched. Temples has a team-best 81 punchouts while Dahle has three saves on the year in her 29 games played.

Olivia Laney, Alyssa Aguilar and Kaysen Korth also see the circle to a lesser degree for the Cougars. As a staff, BYU holds a 5.20 ERA with two complete games and three shutouts as opposing batters are hitting just .305 against them.

Utah Valley
The Utah Valley offense is led by a trio of Wolverines who all bat over .325. Megan Gibbs has a team-high 40 hits with 36 RBI and 78 total bases. Rachel Brown and Halle Morris also have 20-plus RBI.

When the two teams met earlier in the season, Mya Higareda had a pair of hits to lead the team. The Wolverines left nine on base in the previous outing, as Iowa State earned a 12-1 run-rule victory to open 2024. Overall, UVU's offense slashes .290/.358/.429 and averages 3.8 runs per game.

Utah Valley's pitching is spearheaded by Morris, a two-way player and transfer from Utah. Morris is 8-7 on the season and has thrown 104.2 innings. She totes a team-high 59 strikeouts and opponents are hitting just .296 against her.

Joining Morris in the circle are Payge Armendariz and Avery Sapp who have each thrown at least 45 innings. Armendariz totes a 5.59 ERA in 15 appearances while Sapp holds a 6.77 ERA in 18 appearances. As a staff, the Wolverines hold a 5.93 ERA with 14 complete games and one shutout as opposing batters are hitting.330 against the staff.

Series History
BYU
The Cyclones and Cougars have met six times prior to this weekend, with BYU holding a 5-1 advantage. The teams last met in 2022 in a non-conference series which the Cougars swept. BYU is 3-0 at home against the Cyclones with ISU's only win coming in Las Vegas as part of an early-season tournament.

Utah Valley
Iowa State and Utah Valley will meet for the third time overall and second time this season this Sunday. ISU opened the 2023 campaign with the Wolverines in Mexico as part of the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge where the Cyclones won 12-1 in six innings of action. The series is tied at one apiece with UVU's win coming in 2017.

On Deck
After its first road trip since March, Iowa State will be back in action this Tuesday, April 23, when it returns to the Cyclone Sports Complex to welcome St. Thomas. Tuesday's game is set to begin at 4 p.m. and the action will be streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

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Players Mentioned

Angelina Allen

Karlie Charles

Tatum Johnson

Ashley Minor

Milaysia Ochoa

Tiana Poole

Jaiden Ralston

Alesia Ranches

Aziza Rodriguez

Lauren Schurman

Carli Spelhaug

Saya Swain

Olivia Wardlow

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