The ISU softball team extended its losing streak to four games Tuesday, losing to Northern Iowa 8-0. The Cyclones (9-19, 0-3 Big 12) are still trying to recover from being swept by Texas in Ames this past weekend.

The Panthers (21-9, 6-0 Missouri Valley) jumped ahead early by scoring six runs in the second inning. Senior Jaye Hutcheson threw five scoreless innings for the Panthers, allowing only two hits and zero walks en route to her ninth complete game of the season.

“Everyone thought they should have hit her better,” said ISU junior Erica Miller. “I think we were a little bit pressing, especially toward the end. I know I was and not swinging at good pitches.”

Hutcheson (8-6) owned a 2.51 ERA prior to Tuesday’s game, sixth-best in the Missouri Valley Conference among pitchers with at least 10 appearances.

“We expect that from every pitcher,” said ISU senior Dalyn Varela, who recorded both of the team’s only hits against Hutcheson. “There’s going to be days when you’re going to be off and there’s days when you’re going to be on, and today was just a day we were all off.”

The wind was blowing out to right field at around 25 mph for the majority of the game, a factor that the Panthers were able to take advantage of, hitting three home runs over the right-field fence.

“Anything that got up in the air was going to carry out,” Miller said. “We didn’t really use that to our advantage and UNI definitely did.”

The Cyclones know weather is a part of softball and hope preparation will reduce the team’s frustration with the elements.

“The wind’s the wind,” Varela said. “We just have to take that more into consideration when preparing for games. I know a lot of people, we were frustrated with it, but we had to know coming out. This is our field.”

While riding a four-game losing streak, it can be difficult for a team to stay positive. ISU coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler knows that her voice to the team is very important during times like this.

“She just tells us to keep getting better and that’s what our ultimate goal is: to get better,” Miller said. “Whether it’s to make it to postseason this year or postseason next year or even just next year in general, use it as a learning lesson.”

The team huddled on the field after the game for about 20 minutes, talking about the game and ways to improve.

“After today, I thought that we addressed a lot of things not necessarily quite so game-specific, but maybe what’s hanging us, what’s holding us back,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “No matter what happens, there’s still opportunities to get better, regardless of what the scoreboard says.”

The Cyclones face in-state rival Drake at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Ames.