Iowa State Opens Spring Break Trip In Houston

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State softball team will open their 2018 spring break trip at the Houston Hilton Plaza Classic, hosted by the University of Houston. In total, ISU will play 13 games during the 10-day trip.

The Cyclones open the action in Houston on Friday vs. Northwestern (10 a.m. CT) and Lipscomb (12:30 p.m. CT). On Saturday, Iowa State will once again battle Lipscomb (2 p.m.) before facing the host Cougars (7 p.m.) in the nightcap. The tournament finale will pit Iowa State against Penn State at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Following the five-game stint in Houston, the Cyclones will travel north to take on UT Arlington in Arlington, Texas on Tuesday at 2 p.m. Iowa State is then scheduled for a double-header on Wednesday vs. North Texas in Denton, Texas.

Houston Hilton Plaza Classic
Where: Houston, Texas
When: Friday, March 9 – Sunday, March 11
Live Stats: Live stats will be available on the schedule page here.
Live Stream: A live stream ($) of Iowa State's game on Saturday vs. Houston will be available 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 Osprey Classic in Jacksonville, Fla. The Cyclones defeated Virginia Tech 2-0 to open the tournament and closed the weekend with a win in a 3-2 thriller in extra innings over Jacksonville. The win over the Dolphins was the first true road victory of the season for the Cyclones.

-First-year head coach Jamie Pinkerton has the Cyclones playing their best in tight games. With the 3-2 eight-inning victory over Jacksonville on March 4, Iowa State improved to 3-0 in extra-inning games, and is now 5-0 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.

-Senior pitcher Brianna Weilbacher was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week following a dominant weekend at the Osprey Classic. On the week, Weilbacher recorded a 0.00 ERA in 15.0 innings pitched with 22 strikeouts for a league-leading 10.27 strikeouts per seven innings. Weilbacher notched her third complete game shutout of the season vs. Virginia Tech, and her first save of the season vs. Jacksonville. Weilbacher now has a 1.83 ERA this season to rank No. 7 in the Big 12.

-Iowa State now has three pitchers on its roster (Emma Hylen, Savannah Sanders and Brianna Weilbacher) that have won Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors during their career. That's tied with Oklahoma for the most in the Big 12.

-Kaila Konz notched a career-high three base hits in Iowa State's victory over Jacksonville, going 3-for-4 with a run and a stolen base. Konz's speed has paid off for the Cyclones of late, as the senior had three stolen bases in Iowa State's win over Georgia Southern, tied for the third-most in a single game in school history. It was also the most stolen bases by Big 12 player this season. The senior from West Des Moines, Iowa is a perfect 10-for-10 on stolen base attempts to lead the team.

-Iowa State, which set a single-season school record with 99 stolen bases in 2017, has once again been deadly on the base paths this season. The Cyclones are 22-for-24 on stolen base attempts this season, while ISU oppenents are 6-for-9 when attempting to steal.

-Sami Williams is once again powering the Cyclone offense, leading Iowa State in hits (22), doubles (6) and total bases (34), while ranking second in RBIs (8) and runs (9). 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 is No. 1 on the team in triples (2) and No. 2 in doubles (5), Stites leads the team in runs (11) and Carter has assumed is No. 2 on the team with five stolen bases.

-Sally Woolpert, who has played catcher, first base and the designated offensive player postion this season, has emerged of late offensively. Woolpert hit .385 (5-of-13) at the Aquafina Invitational with a double and three RBIs. Woolpert has the third-best batting average on the team at .310. The junior has already totaled more hits this season than in all of 2017 on just 42 at-bats.

-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

Hannah Carter

Emma Hylen

Kaila Konz

Taylor Nearad

Savannah Sanders

Sydney Stites

Brianna Weilbacher

Sami Williams

Sally Woolpert

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics