Iowa State at Kansas City Primer

Who: Iowa State (11-15, 2-4 Big 12) at Kansas City (10-18, 0-0 Summit)

Where: Urban Youth Academy – Kansas City, Mo.

When: March 20 – 3 p.m.

Leading Off
Iowa State is set to face Kansas City on Wednesday afternoon in its second-straight midweek road game. The Cyclones played their first midweek of the season last week at Tulsa.

ISU enters Wednesday's game coming off of a weekend series win over Big 12 newcomer Houston. The Cyclones swept a pair of Friday doubleheaders before falling in the series finale.

Kansas City will ISU in its second consecutive midweek game, as the team plays Creighton on Tuesday evening. The Roos will open up conference play this coming weekend as it welcomes St. Thomas.

UMKC and ISU have one common opponent this season, as both teams have played Northern Colorado twice. Iowa State defeated the Bears 14-1 and 8-6, while Kansas City dropped both of its contests against UNC, 2-3 and 0-2.

Quick Hits:

Iowa State has recorded double-digit runs in a game four times so far this season. It had only two such games in 2023.
The Cyclones have been feast or famine early in the season, as the team averages 8.5 runs scored a game in wins but just 2.6 runs in losses.
Junior outfielder Angelina Allen has been phenomenal to start the season. She's fifth in the country in hits (43) which is tops in the Big 12. Her 10 doubles are also tops in the conference and rank her 24th nationally.
- Allen has 80 total bases on the season, the seventh most in the country and the most in the Big 12. Allen has the third-highest batting average in the conference (.478) and ranks tenth nationally.
- Allen was awarded the Big 12 Player of the Week award on March 5, making her the first Cyclone to earn the award since Sami Williams in 2021.
Milaysia Ochoa broke the program record for most HBP at Oklahoma in the Big 12 opening weekend, being struck by her 29th pitch.
- Ochoa has also drawn the sixth-most walks in the conference with 18, as she has a top 25 OBP.
Alesia Ranches is tied for the fourth-most doubles in the league with eight.
Senior Saya Swain recorded her seventh career save in Vegas earlier this season. She needs two more to break the all-time program record.

Leading the Cyclones
The aforementioned Allen leads the Cyclones in most every offensive category outside of runs, triples and walks drawn. Ochoa, a fellow team captain, has complimented Allen nicely to start the season. From the leadoff spot, Milaysia is hitting .250 with 18 walks drawn and four HBP – giving her an OBP of .485. Both Allen and Ochoa lead the team in on-base percentage from the first two spots in the batting order.

Ashley Minor, Alesia Ranches, Tiana Poole and Carli Spelhaug join Ochoa and Allen as Cyclones who have double digit RBI on the year. Both Minor and Ranches have three homers, while Carli Spelhaug has five – the second-most on the team. Olivia Wardlow, along with Ranches, Allen and Ochoa, hits over .300 out of the nine-hole and has done a great job as the lineup turns over throughout the season.

All six pitchers on staff have taken the circle this season, with freshman Lauren Schurman leading the way with a team-high 41.0 innings pitched. Senior Karlie Charles has thrown 31.2 innings while Aziza Rodriguez have hurled 28.2. Jaiden Ralston leads the team in strikeouts with 26, while Schurman is right behind with 25 and senior Saya Swain has 24.

Opponent Outlook
Kansas City is led offensively by the bats of Briona Woods and Kadin Vire who both are hitting over .300 on the season. Woods and Vire, along with Abby Husak, all have over 20 hits on the season and make up for 42 percent of the team's RBI. Lexy Smith leads the Roos in homers this season with three while Woods is second on the team with two.

Collectively, UMKC is hitting .246 on the season with 38 of its 108 hits going for extra bases. The Roos have been successful on the base paths, stealing bases successfully 37-of-40 times. The team has won its last three heading into its game on Tuesday night against Creighton.

Camryn Stickel is Kansas City's go-to pitcher, as the senior righty has tossed over 100 innings of action so far for UMKC. Stickel owns a 4-8 record and has recorded nine complete games. She has 64 strikeouts and opposing batters are averaging .263 against her. Katie Noble, Bailey Brumley and Sheridon Wilber make up the rest of the Roo pen.

Series History
Iowa State and Kansas City will meet for the 17th time on Wednesday in a series that dates back to 1997. The Cyclones have won the last six meetings and are 13-3 in the all-time series. The two teams have met just twice in Kansas City, with the Cyclones earning the win in both instances.

On Deck
Iowa State will return to the Cyclone Sports Complex this weekend to welcome the Texas Tech Red Raiders for its second-straight home Big 12 series. ISU and TTU are set to get things started on Friday, March 22, with first pitch coming at 4 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Angelina Allen

Karlie Charles

Ashley Minor

Milaysia Ochoa

Tiana Poole

Jaiden Ralston

Alesia Ranches

Aziza Rodriguez

Lauren Schurman

Carli Spelhaug

Saya Swain

Olivia Wardlow

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