Iowa State at Rebel Invitational Primer

Who: Iowa State vs. No. 22 Ole Miss / North Dakota State / Samford

Where: Ole Miss Softball Stadium – Oxford, Miss.

When: March 14 – 9:30 am & 12 pm // March 15 – tbd // March 16 – tbd

Leading Off
After opening up conference play last weekend, Iowa State will take a brief respite from conference action to attend its final non-conference tournament of the season – the Rebel Invitational. There, ISU will face No. 22 Ole Miss, North Dakota State and Samford. Ole Miss head coach Jamie Trachsel is a former head coach of both NDSU and ISU.

Last weekend, Iowa State opened conference play with a win, downing Houston 10-8 in eight innings, to earn the school's first conference-opening win since 2006. The Cyclones will look to get back over .500 in Oxford, as they will have two more chances at a win over a ranked program.

The Rebel Invitational takes place from March 14 to March 16 between four schools. The trio of Ole Miss, North Dakota State and Samford are all coming off of Tuesday midweek contests, while ISU last played on Sunday.

Please Note: Only two of this weekend's contests will be streamed (both games against Ole Miss). You can follow along with the action at the stat links provided or by following @CycloneSB on Twitter (X).

From the Notes:

ISU is in the middle of spending seven straight weekends on the road to start the season.
- That means their first 29 games will all take place away from the Cyclone Softball Complex.
After having 11 seniors leave, ISU only has two on this year's roster. Over half of the team, 14, are underclassmen.
- ISU's most frequently featured lineup has had five newcomers in the fold and just one player who started more than 50 percent of last year's contests.
2025 marks the beginning of a new Big 12 expansion, as three new schools – Arizona, Arizona State and Utah – all enter the fray.
Freshman pitcher Sami Potvin hurled a five-inning perfect game on 3/2 against Grambling State. It is believed to be the first in school history (records dating back into the 1970s are incomplete).
Freshman Abby Huhn tossed a one-hit shutout in her first career start, falling two outs shy of a perfect game against Portland State.
Freshman Jessie Clemons had three hits in her collegiate debut over the weekend, making her the first player in the Pinkerton era to have at least three hits in their collegiate debut.

Leading the Cyclones
Iowa State's offense begins literally and statistically with the start of the order. Returning All-American Angelina Allen finds herself sandwiched between a pair of standout freshmen, Sereniti Trice and Jessie Clemons, in the batting order. Clemons has a team-high .449 batting average with a team-best 31 hits. Allen leads the team in walks drawn while Trice has scored the most runs and has the most stolen bases.

Transfers Reagan Bartholomew and Sydney Malott have also been solid at the plate, rounding out the top of the lineup. Malott is batting .338 and has a team-high five home runs, while Bartholomew is tied for the second-most doubles on the team.

In the circle, five Cyclones have seen action. Lauren Schurman leads the way with a team-low ERA of 2.96 in 18 appearances. Jaiden Ralston has pitched in 14 games, totaling 29 innings of action. Freshmen Sami Potvin and Abby Huhn each have a pair of wins, while sophomore Aziza Rodriguez has only seen 7.0 innings of work.

Overall, the Cyclones are hitting .289 and have produced 109 runs on 166 hits. The team has 60 extra-base hits with 97 RBI, while drawing 50 walks. ISU holds a collective 4.68 ERA and has allowed 168 hits in 128.2 innings of work.

Opponent Outlook
No. 22 Ole Miss (21-4) has rolled through the early part of the season, picking up three ranked wins along the way. The Rebels 16 of their last 17 contests and have seen their ranking rise to its highest since 2019.

North Dakota State (12-13) is in its 50^th season of collegiate softball and like Iowa State, is playing its final non-conference tournament of the season. NDSU has played in the Rebel Invitational three times now in the last five seasons and is a collective 3-4.

Samford (16-10) coming off a midweek matchup at Jacksonville State where it fell 5-2. The Bulldogs have one common opponent with the Cyclones, Florida, who they also lost to.

Series History
Iowa State has matched up with Ole Miss eight times prior to this weekend and is 4-4 all-time against the Rebels having won the last two matchups. ISU and NDSU will meet for the 12th time this weekend, with ISU holding the all-time advantage, 8-3. The Cyclones and Samford have met just once prior to this weekend, with the Bulldogs earning the victory last time they met.

On Deck
After its final non-conference tournament, Iowa State will dip back into conference play next weekend when it heads to Orlando to take on UCF. The Cyclones and Knights will meet three times across March 20-22, playing one game a day.

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Players Mentioned

Angelina Allen

Reagan Bartholomew

Jessie Clemons

Abby Huhn

Sydney Malott

Sami Potvin

Jaiden Ralston

Aziza Rodriguez

Lauren Schurman

Sereniti Trice

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