The sixth inning of Saturday’s second contest between Iowa State and Minnesota State-Mankato displayed the Cyclones’ ability to hit and struggles to play defense.

In the top half of the inning, with two runners on and the game tied at one, catcher Zach Simons drove a ball to deep right-center, well over the head of the outfielder. Both runners touched home plate, and Simons cruised into third with a triple. A Justin Sullivan sacrifice fly brought Simons home, pushing the ISU lead to 4-1.

But in the bottom half, the Cyclone defense unraveled. The leadoff man for the Mavericks reached on an error. A single and a pop-out later, two runners were on with one out.

The next batter scorched a line drive that Sullivan misplayed on a dive attempt in right field. The ball rolled a few feet from the warning track and a run scored. A passed ball by Simons on the ensuing at-bat allowed another run to score.

The Mavericks would complete the comeback on an RBI groundout.

“We lost focus in the sixth inning after our rally,” Simons said. “We got the lead so we kinda just got … laid-back. We felt like we expected we were going to get the outs. We weren’t focused on the fundamentals.”

Miscues on defense cost the Cyclones the game at the end. The first batter walked then advanced to second on an Ethan Schroeder wild pitch. The next man up reached on another error by Sullivan. An intentional walk loaded the bases.

With the infield drawn in, the Cyclones’ second baseman couldn’t handle it cleanly. The Mavericks ran 90 feet home for the game-winner.

“Errors killed us. We had a lot of errors in that second game,” said player-manager Tyler Strub.

Cyclone Jeff Peterson pitched the middle game of the three-game set against Minnesota State. Peterson played in spring training with most of the team, but this series was their first after a postponement last week.

“I think it’s still pretty early in the season for everyone, still getting warmed up, but I expect those error numbers to go way down as we progress through the season,” Peterson said.

Peterson pitched well, giving up five hits while striking out five. But the defense behind him let him down at times.

“It’s frustrating giving up more than three outs per inning,” Peterson said. “It’s frustrating as a pitcher, but you have to understand where these guys are coming from and realize mistakes are going to happen, and you can’t get down about it.”

Whatever the case may be, Strub expects more out of his team. Sunday’s loss only added to his frustration.

A game-tying rally by Iowa State in the top of the seventh looked promising, but it wouldn’t last long, when a passed ball in the bottom half gave Mankato the win. Strub, dejected Sunday after losing two of three, said errors like that can’t happen.

“I think the guys need to settle down, field the ground ball and then throw, instead of trying to rush everything,” Strub said. “Maybe that’s just first-game jitters. I don’t know.”

The Cyclones will look to right the ship Saturday as they host the University of South Dakota. First pitch is at noon at Cap Timm Field in Ames.