The ISU baseball club was swept in three conference games Sunday against rival Northern Iowa.

The games were moved from Saturday, which brought unplayable field conditions at Cap Timm Field following rain Friday night.

Game one of the series was a pitching duel between the Panthers’ Scott Welter and Cyclone pitcher Tyler Strub.

The Panthers jumped out on top early with a run scoring on a throwing error from Strub.

The runner on third from Northern Iowa was caught in a pickle when he attempted to steal home.

“Phil (Johnson) caught him leading off too much,” Strub said. “I threw it a little high, I’ll take that one. It was probably my fault.”

UNI’s second run came on a pitch that got through the legs of catcher Phil Johnson.

“Phil can’t get all the balls,” Strub said, smiling. “That will happen, I guess.”

Strub pitched seven innings for the Cyclones, allowing just two runs, striking out nine and walking none.

“They got two weak runs, in my opinion,” said player-coach Jeff Peterson. “We just couldn’t string hits together to get runs.”

In game two, the Cyclone offense saw more production.

After Northern Iowa scored one run in the first inning, the Cyclones bounced back over the next three innings to take a 3-1 lead.

“We had a talk after the first game,” Peterson said. “I think it was just being awake and seeing the ball better.

The Cyclones led 5-3 in the top of the seventh. Following a batter that was hit by a pitch and a walk, the Panthers went on to score four runs.

Senior Nick Weinmeister hit a two RBI single for UNI to tie the game with two outs. The next batter was Scott Welter, who hit an RBI double to put the Panthers up for good.

Northern Iowa put together a total of four runs on four hits and went on to take game two 7-5.

In game three, the Panthers jumped out to the early 3-0 lead.

The Cyclones had the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth inning with no outs but couldn’t get a run across.

UNI’s Scott Birkedal shut down the ISU offense the next two innings to seal the victory for the Panthers in a 9-1 rout.

The Cyclones continue their season when they travel to the University of Central Missouri this weekend.