AMES, Iowa – Iowa State Head Coach Jamie Pinkerton announced the 2023 Cyclone softball schedule Tuesday. The Cyclones’ 2023 slate includes nine opponents that made an NCAA Regional last season. Iowa State will play 12 games against five teams that finished 2022 ranked inside the NFCA Coaches Poll Top 25 in No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Texas, No. 4 Oklahoma State, No. 9 Arkansas and No. 25 Oregon.
Iowa State opens the year with 26 consecutive road games, including five tournaments on the road. The Cyclones will open the season at the Doc Halverson UNI-Dome Classic (Feb. 10-12) in Cedar Falls.
ISU will then travel to the west coast for a tournament in Fresno, Calif. for five games at the Fresno State Kickoff Classic (Feb. 17-19) before playing in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic (Feb. 24-26) in Palm Springs, Calif. Iowa State will then take part in the Wooo Pig Classic (March 3-5), hosted by Arkansas, followed by a trip to Hawaii for the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu (March 10-12).
The Cyclones will play at the Cyclone Sports Complex for the first time on March 17. The Cyclones will play a doubleheader against BYU on Friday (March 17) followed by a doubleheader with Omaha on Sunday (March 19).
Iowa State will travel to Lincoln to face the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Wednesday, March 22 before Big 12 competition begins. ISU hosts defending national champion Oklahoma (March 24-26) and will then travel to Texas Tech for its first road Big 12 series (March 31 – April 2). The Cyclones will step back out of conference play for their midweek contest at Northern Iowa on Tuesday, April 4.
Following the midweek matchup against UNI, Iowa State hosts four-straight home games against defending national runner-up Texas (April 6-8) and South Dakota State (April 11) before a weekend series against Oklahoma State in Stillwater (April 14-16), a team that advanced to the 2022 College World Series.
After the Oklahoma State series, Iowa State will have a week off before it hosts Colorado State at the Cyclone Sports Complex (April 21-22). The Cyclones will then travel to Iowa City to face off against in-state rival Iowa in the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series on April 26.
Iowa State closes the month of April with a home series against Baylor (April 28-30) and hosts Drake in its final midweek contest of the season (May 3). The Cyclones conclude the regular season on the road against Kansas (May 5-7).
The Big 12 Softball Championship will take place from May 11-13 in Oklahoma City.
