Preview: Cyclones To Open Big 12 Play At No. 10 Texas

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CYCLONE NOTEBOOK
1. The Iowa State softball team (17-10 overall) opens Big 12 play this weekend in Austin, Texas. The Cyclones will take on No. 10 Texas (26-6 overall) in its first three-game conference series of the season. The series will be played at Red & Charlene McCombs Field, and will be televised live by the Longhorn Network.

2. The Cyclones head to Austin on a hot streak, having won eight of their last nine. Iowa State's .630 winning percentage is its third-best mark ever going into the start of Big 12 play. Iowa State's recent seven-game win streak (March 8 - March 16) was the program's longest since the 2010 season.

3. Iowa State junior Sami Williams is on a career-long 16-game hitting streak, just two shy of tying the Iowa State all-time record of 18 set by Aly Cappaert in 2015. Williams began the streak on Feb. 24 vs. Dartmouth, and has been on tear ever since. Over the last 16 games, Williams is hitting .544 with eight doubles, two triples, four home runs and 14 RBI's in the lead-off spot. She also has a .965 slugging percentage and four stolen bases over that same period.

4. Williams already re-wrote the ISU record book in a different category this season, hitting her school record-breaking 42nd career double. Williams, now ISU's all-time leader, broke the previous program record of 41 set by Lexi Slater (2012-15).

5. Senior hurler Emma Hylen also placed her name atop the ISU record books, picking up her ISU record-breaking eighth career save on March 16 vs. Harvard. It was the cherry on top of a dominant weekend for Hylen at the Easton Invitational in Fullerton, Calif. Hylen went 3-0 with a save and a 0.36 ERA in four appearances at the tournament. The native of Roseville, Minn., allowed just one earned run in 19.0 innings of action.

6. Kaylee Bosworth is known for being among the Big 12's best defensive catchers, but she has turned in a career-best year so far at the plate. The senior from Manvel, Texas has the second-best slugging percentage on the team at .547 and is hitting .392 with a team-best 16 RBI's over the past 16 games. Bosworth had the second multi-home run game of her career, going yard twice to lead Iowa State to a 7-5 win over Harvard at the Easton Invitational.

7. The Cyclone defense turned in yet another strong showing at the Easton Invitational, as they continue to show marked improvement this season under head coach Jamie Pinkerton and assistant Courtney Martinez, who has been charged with tutoring the infield. The Cyclones turned in a .976 fielding percentage over the weekend, and now rank No. 3 in the Big 12 with a .975 fielding percentage on the season.

8. Iowa State's overall fielding percentage this season is .975, is up from .956 a season ago. The Cyclones have already turned a conference-leading 15 double plays in 27 games after turning 17 all of last season.

9. Williams continues 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 (.383), No. 1 in doubles (45) and No. 7 in home runs (25). Williams currently ranks No. 1 in the Big 12 in doubles per game at .41.

10. Williams is coming off a Second Team All-Big 12 season 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.

11. 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.

12. The Cyclones aren't strangers to playing in hostile environments, as just seven of ISU's last 83 contests have been played at home, dating back to 2018. ISU was 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).

Preview: Cyclones To Open Big 12 Play At No. 10 Texas

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Players Mentioned

Kaylee Bosworth

Aly Cappaert

Emma Hylen

Lexi Slater

Sami Williams

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Iowa State University Athletics

Preview: Cyclones To Open Big 12 Play At No. 10 Texas

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Players Mentioned

Kaylee Bosworth

Aly Cappaert

Emma Hylen

Lexi Slater

Sami Williams

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