The ISU softball team (21-28, 3-15 Big 12) ended their 2011 campaign by dropping both games of a doubleheader this Saturday at No. 6 Missouri (46-7, 15-3 Big 12), which locked up the conference championship with the wins.

Missouri boasts one of the top pitchers in the conference in Chelsea Thomas, who currently holds a 27-5 record, with a 0.81 ERA.

In the first game of the series on Saturday, the Cyclones lost an 8-2 decision to the Tigers in what would be the final start of ISU ace pitcher Rachel Zabriskie’s collegiate career.

“With Chelsea Thomas, obviously she’s a great pitcher, but I thought that we had some really good at-bats against her,” said ISU coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Celser, a former two-time all-conference softball player at Missouri. “Obviously we just weren’t able to hold down their offense.”

Both teams were held scoreless until Missouri’s offense woke up in the bottom of the third inning on a two-out, three-run home run to right field off the bat of Ashley Fleming.

It was the 12th homer of the year for Fleming, who leads the Tiger offense with a .372 batting average and 55 RBI’s.

The Tigers struck again with another three-run inning in the bottom of the fifth, highlighted by a Princess Krebs two-RBI double.

Missouri padded their lead by manufacturing two more runs in the bottom of the sixth off of Cyclone reflief pitcher Lauren Kennewell.

“I still thought that at times, Rachel threw really well. I mean, they’re a great team, and that’s why they won the conference,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “I felt pretty good about the way that we competed with them.”

The lone highlight of the game for the Cyclones came in the top of the fourth inning when ISU shortstop Sara Davison blasted her second home run of the year to make the score 3-1.

Cyclone freshman pitcher Bree Holliday garnered the eighth start of her career in the second game of the doubleheader, starting strong before being lit up in the third inning by the explosive Missouri offense.

“I thought she came out and threw really well in the first two innings and then she struggled in the third,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “It was just hard to get back on track because our defense made some mistakes behind her, which has been an issue that we have struggled with all year.”

Holliday gave up six runs in the bottom of the third, with most of the damage coming from home runs by Fleming and Abby Vock.

Vock would homer again in the bottom of the fourth to give Missouri an 8-0 cushion.

The Cyclones’ lone run came in the top of the fifth when Anna Cole scored on a fielding error by the Missouri first baseman.

Iowa State ends the season on a seven-game losing streak, finishing ninth in the Big 12 conference.