Upcoming Event: Softball versus DMACC on September 17, 2025 at 4 p.m.
4 p.m.
Softball
DMACC
Iowa State University Athletics
Friday, February 8
Tallahassee, Fla.
11:30 AM
Iowa State University
vs
UNC-Greensboro
Iowa State To Open 2019 At No. 1 FSU's JoAnne Graf Classic
02.06.2019 | Softball
CYCLONE NOTEBOOK
1. The Iowa State softball team will open its 2019 campaign this weekend at the JoAnne Graf Classic in Tallahassee, Fla. The Cyclones will face the nation's No. 1 team in host Florida State twice during the tournament, in addition to a pair of games against 2018 NCAA Regional qualifier UNC Greensboro and a contest vs. UNC Wilmington.
2. Iowa State will open the season by playing four of its first five games vs. teams that appeared in the 2018 NCAA Tournament (Florida State x2, UNC Greensboro x2). In total, the Cyclones play 22 games this season against 2018 regional squads.
3. Friday's contest at Florida State will mark Iowa State's first game vs. the No. 1-ranked team in the country since April 28, 2013. The Cyclones are 0-10 all-time vs. No. 1-ranked teams dating back to 1995. The program's last triumph over a top-3 team came on April 24, 2005 (1-0 at No. 3 Texas).
4. Iowa State is looking to build off a 23-33 overall record in 2018 in what was the first year of the Jamie Pinkerton era. The Cyclones finished sixth in the Big 12 to advance to the conference postseason tournament for the second-consecutive season. The Cyclones finished No. 75 in the final RPI rankings, and played the No. 27-toughest schedule.
5. Iowa State returns star infielder Sami Williams for her junior campaign. Williams is coming off a Second Team All-Big 12 selection in which she hit .388 (No. 6 single-season batting average in school history), to go with 12 home runs and 14 doubles. Williams was named to the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America Division I Softball Team, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Williams maintained a 4.0 GPA in software engineering.
6. Williams will look to continue to climb the ISU career record charts during her junior campaign. The native of Laguna Niguel, Calif., is already No. 2 on Iowa State's all-time list in batting average (.376), No. 4 in doubles (34) and T-No. 7 in home runs (20). She needs eight more doubles to break the program record held by Lexi Slater (41 - 2012-15).
7. Pinkerton will also gets an all-region addition to his lineup in the form of senior Kelsey McFarland. McFarland, a First Team All-Midwest Region selection in 2017, missed the entire 2018 campaign with an injury. The outfielder returns as a redshirt senior. She hit .345 with 12 doubles and four home runs while starting all 58 games as a junior in 2017.
8. Iowa State hit a single-season school record 45 home runs in 2018, breaking the previous program mark of 40 set during Pinkerton's first stint at Iowa State as an assistant coach in 2013. Williams led the way with 12 homers on the year, as ISU returns 36 of its 45 dingers from a season ago.
9. The Cyclones will look to continue in their ability to win close games this season. Head coach Jamie Pinkerton was masterful in late-game situations in 2018. Iowa State went 6-0 in extra-inning games in 2018, and also went 9-3 in games decided by one run.
10. The Cyclones aren't strangers to playing in hostile environments, with just seven of their 56 contests being played at home in 2018. ISU is the only Power 5 program in the nation that played fewer than 12 home games in 2018, and tied for No. 7 nationally in NCAA DI for fewest total home games played.
COMPLETE GAME NOTES
For complete game notes, click here (PDF).
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