The Iowa State softball team opens the Big-12 Tournament in Oklahoma City on Friday with a matchup against Kansas. The Cyclones finished the Big-12 regular season race by winning six of nine games and swept the Jayhawks in two games last weekend.
ISU coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler says it’s a great tournament and they were able to play with any team in the conference, so they come in with confidence.
The Big-12 has followed the lead of some other leagues and adopted a single elimination format. Gemeinhardt-Cesler says they did that to eliminate the wear and tear on the bodies, as a longer tournament would leave the players not as rested as they go into regionals.
The winner will move on to play regular season champion Oklahoma.