Iowa State edges out Texas Tech

Senior pitcher Tori Torrescano pitches the ball against Texas Tech on April 19, 2013, at the Cyclone Sports Complex.  Torrescano pitched six innings and gave up eight hits in the 6-5 win over the Red Raiders.

Isaac Hunt

With the wind blowing and temperatures below 40 degrees the ISU softball team was able to edge out visiting Texas Tech with a 6-5 score.

Iowa State (19-22, 4-6 Big 12) won yet again at the new Cyclone Sports Complex, where it is now 5-0.

“It’s fun to play here; it’s a beautiful setting,” said ISU coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler. “Our locker rooms are fantastic. Our batting cages are the best. It feels good to play here. It’s easier to play here.”

With leads being exchanged five times, the game was anything but easy. The Cyclones also lost Erica Miller, one of only two seniors, on an injury to her hand.

“Everyone was pretty shocked to be honest,” said Aly Cappaert who ended up replacing Miller at first base. “She is a big part of our lineup offensively and defensively so to have her out of the game it was more of a shock. The whole team came back and it was a good team win.”

Not only did the Cyclones suffer from an injury, but the weather had impacts on the game as well. Texas Tech hit a home run in the third inning that looked to be carried by the wind to barely reach over the fence.

Pitcher Tori Torrescano said the team might have been affected physically, but not mentally because of the weather. Her coach felt the same way when talking about whether her team was effected or not.

“I hope not,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “We talked a lot about how this is home, this is what we play in at times. It should always affect us less than the other team.”

At the end of the game, down by one, Texas Tech (27-21, 1-9) had hopes of a last inning rally before Aly Cappaert shut them down.

With a runner on third and two outs, the Red Raiders were in prime position to tie the game. But in dramatic fashion Cappaert got the last out.

“Taylor [Smith] threw a changeup and the ball came off of the bat with a weird spin right at me,” Cappaert said. “My first thought was to obviously field it. When it hit off of the palm of my glove it spun off so I just got to it and looked up at the runner to see how close she was and my thought was just ‘Dive, dive’ and I got her.”

Tori Torrescano, who was taken out of the circle, went to play in right field and was directly behind the play.

“I think she just got a little excited because it was a ground ball right to her,” Torrescano said. “She did a good job not freaking out after she messed up a little bit.”