Cyclones Poised For Three-Game Set With BYU

AMES, Iowa - Iowa State travels to Provo, Utah for its first series of the season against BYU this weekend. The three-game set will begin with a doubleheader Friday at 5 p.m. (CT) before concluding Saturday at 2 p.m. The Cyclones are coming off a road trip to California in which ISU went 7-3.

The Matchup: Iowa State (19-10, 0-0 Big 12) vs. BYU (19-7, 0-0 WCC)
Where: Gail Miller Field / Provo, Utah
When: Friday, March 25 (DH, 5 p.m. CT) / Saturday, March 16 (2 p.m. CT)
Watch: BYUtv
Live Stats: Cyclones.com

Key Storylines

Iowa State went 4-1 at the Mizuno Classic last weekend with wins over Marist, Pacific, Sacramento State and Santa Clara.
ISU is in the midst of a 35-game road trip to begin the season. The Cyclones will have played five games in Iowa (indoors), four games in Washington D.C., 15 games in California, five games in Arizona, three games in Utah and three games in Texas before their first home game April 6 against UNI.
Nine of ISU's games have been decided by two runs or less or less this season. The Cyclones are 2-7 in such games. Iowa State has won and lost via walk off once and has left the tying or winning run stranded in scoring position in the final inning in three of those losses.
Iowa State owns four wins over teams that made a regional last season (SDSU, UNI, Boston, Long Beach State). Overall, the Cyclones are 4-3 against the 2021 NCAA Tournament field.
The Cyclones are averaging 6.62 runs per game, which ranks 20th in the nation.
Lead-off batter Carli Spelhaug is averaging 1.34 runs per game (3rd nationally).
ISU has hit 47 doubles this season, the 12th-most nationally. Spelhaug leads the way with seven two-baggers on the year
Mikayla Ramos' 12 home runs rank sixth nationally are tied for the fifth-most in a single season in program history. She is already just one shy of tying her home run total from last season. Ramos has logged 40 RBIs in 29 games this season, the third-most in the country. Last season, Ramos batted in 57 runs to break Iowa State's single-season RBI record. By comparison, Ramos had 27 RBIs through 29 games in 2021.
Karlie Charles owns a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 10.2:1 (51 K, 5 BB). It is the best mark in the Big 12 and the 11th-best in the country.
Saya Swain is one of five pitchers in the nation to log two games with 16+ strikeouts this season.
Ellie Spelhaug has matched her career high in strikeouts (6) four times this season, including games against No. 6 UCLA and No. 5 Washington.

Series History

BYU leads, 2-1
Last Meeting: 2018 (W, 5-3)

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Players Mentioned

Karlie Charles

Mikayla Ramos

Carli Spelhaug

Ellie Spelhaug

Saya Swain

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