The ISU softball team fell to Drake 8-6 in Des Moines on Tuesday evening.

The Cyclones (12-25, 1-8 Big 12) split the season series with the Bulldogs (17-19, 8-4 Missouri Valley), who they defeated 1-0 on March 28 behind a strong pitching performance by sophomore Taylor Smith.

Drake threw staff ace Jordan Gronewold into the pitcher’s circle on Tuesday, going six complete innings and allowing four earned runs on nine hits and four walks.

“She’s usually really pretty good,” said ISU coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler. “I thought that she struggled with command today, but we didn’t do a good job of taking advantage of that.”

Iowa State scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning and was beginning to mount a comeback against Gronewold when she was replaced by freshman Rebekah Schmidt.

“I think that we should’ve been doing that really throughout the game,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “I thought that we were capable of doing that today and we didn’t.”

Gronewold had a very productive game at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs.

Despite Smith’s dominance of the Bulldogs during the previous meeting, ISU junior Tori Torrescano got the start Tuesday coming off a one-run complete game victory against Texas A&M on Sunday. Torrescano allowed eight earned runs on 12 hits and two walks in a losing effort and is now 7-17 on the season.

“Tori threw great on Sunday and came out and gave up 12 hits today, so obviously she didn’t have her best stuff,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said.

The Cyclones showed signs of offense Tuesday, scoring six runs on nine hits, but still failed to cash in on the base paths.

“We stranded 10 runners on base,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “Anytime that you’re stranding double-digits of runners, then that’s not good.”

ISU senior Dalyn Varela finished the day 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. Her two hits included a no-out, two-RBI double in the top of the seventh inning to bring the Cyclones within three runs of the lead.

Freshman Lexi Slater, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI on the day, would follow with a two-out sacrifice fly.

Bulldog freshman Hayley Nybo, who was batting .303 with five home runs and 24 RBIs going into Tuesday’s game, built on her impressive season by finishing the day 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Iowa State leads the all-time series against Drake 70-18, including three wins last season, but failed to live up to the numbers Tuesday.

“I think that we had the opportunity to win today and we didn’t,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said.

 The Cyclones will travel to Stillwater, Okla., this weekend for a three-game series at Oklahoma State.