Nationally-ranked teams have been the pitfall for the ISU softball team this spring. The Cyclones (17-17 overall, 1-5 Big 12) dropped two games to No. 24 Texas Tech this past weekend.

The Red Raiders (38-6, 3-5) topped Iowa State 15-5 Saturday and 16-5 Sunday. The weekend’s matchups marked the first true road trip for the team from Lubbock. Despite being on the road, they made the Southwest Athletic Complex feel like home.

In Saturday’s bout, the visiting team jumped out to an early 11-0 lead. Iowa State battled back late, scoring five runs in the fifth inning. Just when it seemed the Cyclones were going to make a push, they were stymied, and Texas Tech collected four more runs to reach the 15-run mark.

Sunday’s game was almost a mirror image. Through five innings, the Red Raiders stood with a 9-4 lead. However, in the final two innings, the visitors took over and seven more runs crossed the plate. This cemented the 16-5 victory and dropped Iowa State to 1-5 in the Big 12.

Offensively, both teams were able to manufacture hits. Erica Miller continued as Iowa State’s master of the bat. She finished with five hits, four RBIs and a towering two-run home run to open the scoring for Iowa State in the second game.

“I always just try to do what I can to help the team, and I made a mistake on the infield the inning before, so I was just trying to make up for it and trying to help the team,” Miller said.

Dalyn Varela returned to form and contributed to the offensive presence. Despite being battered and bruised, the Cyclone third baseman sent a two-run shot out of the park for her sixth home run of the season.

“It didn’t feel like a home run when I hit it,” Varela said. “But it’s nice to be able to help the team, and it’s good to have Tori [Torrescano] and Erica [Miller] behind me to pick me up.”

The Cyclone offense and defense being out of sync has been a recurring nightmare during the team’s recent skid. Despite fighting at the plate against a deep Texas Tech staff, the Cyclones were unable to respond defensively.

“It’s kind of frustrating for us because we know we can’t help our pitchers out when they’re struggling,” Varela said. “We try to keep their spirits up but we know they’re getting frustrated, and we get frustrated when we’re not scoring as many runs.”

Red Raider outfielder Mikey Kenney added seven runs to her resume while shortstop Raven Richardson scored four times. Their performances were just the tip of the iceberg.

Iowa State’s top option from the mound, Rachel Zabriskie, struggled in both games. Just days after going 10 innings against Minnesota, Zabriskie’s longest outing of the weekend lasted only 3.2 innings. In the second game of the series, Zabriskie loaded the bases in the second inning and Red Raider slugger Sandy James connected on a grand slam.

While the Cyclones know that 17-17 is not where they want to be, the team is focusing on the week ahead.

“We need to move on,” Miller said, “and look at the good stuff we did and build on that instead of focusing on the ending score.” 

The Cyclones will begin a home and away series with Drake this week, beginning Tuesday in Des Moines.