Iowa State Ready For Osprey Classic

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State softball team is slated to compete this weekend in the Courtyard Marriott Osprey Classic, hosted by North Florida and Jacksonville University.

Iowa State will open the tournament against Virginia Tech (12:00 p.m. CT) on Friday. The Cyclones will then battle Middle Tennessee (11:00 a.m.) and North Florida (4:00 p.m.) on Saturday. Iowa State will once again face the Virginia Tech (8:00 a.m.) and Jacksonville (10:30 a.m.) to close out the tournament on Sunday.

Courtyard Marriott Osprey Classic
Where: Jacksonville, Fla.
When: Friday, March 2 – Sunday, March 4
Live Stats: Live stats will be available on the schedule page here.
Live Updates: Follow @CycloneSB on Twitter for live in-game updates from the field.

Cyclone Headlines
-Iowa State went 2-3 a week ago at the Aquafina Invitational in Gainesville, Fla. The Cyclones defeated Georgia Southern 1-0 and Illinois State 5-4 at the tournament. The Cyclones notched their second walk-off victory of the season vs. Georgia Southern, as Kaylee Bosworth laced an RBI single to right field, scoring Taylor Nearad to send ISU past the Eagles. The Cyclones are now 2-0 in extra-inning games this season and 4-0 in games decided by one run.

-Kaila Konz had three stolen bases in Iowa State's win over Georgia Southern, tied for the third-most in a single game in school history, and the most in a single game since 2014. It was also the most stolen bases by a Big 12 player this season. The senior from West Des Moines, Iowa is a perfect 6-for-6 on stolen base attempts, leading the team.

-Iowa State out-hit No. 2 Florida 6-5 on Sunday, but was unable to come up with the timely offense it needed to get on the board. The Cyclones fell 3-0, but fought valiantly against the hosting Gators. Jackie Chairez and Taylor Nearad both went 2-for-3 against Florida, as Chairez had the first multi-hit game of her career.

-Brianna Weilbacher went 2-0 on the weekend at the Aquafina Invitational, including a complete game shutout in 8.0 innings vs. Georgia Southern. Weilbacher had a 1.50 ERA and .157 opponent batting average on the weekend with 13 strikeouts in 14.0 innings of work. Her eight strikeouts vs. Illinois State were a season-high.

-Sally Woolpert, who has played catcher, first base and the designated offensive player position this season, has emerged of late offensively. Woolpert hit .385 (5-of-13) at the Aquafina Invitational with a double and three RBIs. Woolpert now leads the Cyclones with a .355 batting average on the season. The junior has already totaled more hits this season than in all of 2017 on just 31 at-bats.

-Sami Williams is once again powering the Cyclone offense, leading Iowa State in hits (17) and total bases (27), while ranking second in RBIs (8), runs (8) and doubles (4). As a freshman, Williams was named to the 2017 All-Big 12 First Team. She was one of three freshmen to garner first team accolades and is just the second newcomer in program history to be named to the first team. She is also a finalist for the 2017 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year.

-Iowa State bolstered its roster with the addition of three transfers: 2016 Big Sky Freshman of the Year Sydney Stites (Montana), two-time Junior College National Player of the Year Taylor Nearad (Kirkwood) and NSAA Co-Newcomer of the Year Hannah Carter (Bellevue). All three have started every game this season and have been featured prominently in the ISU batting order. Nearad leads th team in doubles (5), Stites leads the team in runs (9) and Carter has assumed the lead-off position and ranks second on the team with four stolen bases.

-Junior catcher Kaylee Bosworth had one of the finest weekends of her Cyclone career at the Marucci Desert Classic. The native of Manvel, Texas, hit .357 with six RBIs and three home runs in four games, all of which were Iowa State wins. Bosworth, who entered the weekend with six career home runs, went yard in three consecutive games to close the tournament, leading ISU past BYU, Nevada and San Jose State. Her three home runs were tied for the most in the Big 12 this week.

-Iowa State's 12-4 victory over 2017 Mountain West champion San Jose State was its best offensive performance of the season. The Cyclones racked up season-highs in hits (17) and runs (12) with a season-low amount of strikeouts (1). The Cyclones have 16 multi-hit performances this season, six of which came in the win over SJSU. Bosworth and Nychole Antillon both went 3-of-4 in the outing.

-2018 marks Jamie Pinkerton's debut season as Iowa State's head coach. Pinkerton returned to Ames after serving as an assisant coach with the Cyclones from 2010-2013, during which Iowa State's offense excelled under his tutelage. The 2013 Cyclones set schools records for runs (284), home runs (40), RBI (253) and walks (166). Pinkerton left to start Montana's softball program from scratch following the 2013 season.

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Players Mentioned

Nychole Antillon

Kaylee Bosworth

Hannah Carter

Jaclyn Chairez

Kaila Konz

Taylor Nearad

Sydney Stites

Brianna Weilbacher

Sami Williams

Sally Woolpert

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics