Cyclones get revenge on Panthers
ISU designated hitter Tori Torrescano approaches home after hitting a game-ending home run Tuesday against Northern Iowa. The Cyclones won the game 11-3 over the Panthers. Torrescano and infielder Erica Miller each hit two home runs, setting an ISU school record for most home runs in a game with four.
April 5, 2011
The Cyclone softball team only had to wait six days for a chance to exact revenge on the UNI Panthers after a 4-2 loss last Wednesday.
They did precisely that behind a powerful offensive performance, highlighted by four home runs.
“Coming off a weekend like we had at A&M where Saturday was really tough and then Sunday we competed, we played much better and we were definitely in it, we just came ready to play today,” said ISU coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler.
The Cyclones hit the Panthers out of the game in an 11-3 run-rule victory that lasted just five innings.
“We owed them one and we all knew it,” said Cyclone pitcher Rachel Zabriskie. “There was definitely a revenge factor, especially after getting beat the way we did last Wednesday.”
In the bottom of the first inning, ISU first baseman Erica Miller welcomed the Panthers to the Southwest Athletic Complex with a towering three-run homer over the scoreboard in right-center field.
Iowa State manufactured another three runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 6-0 lead.
“It was great that we came out and attacked against a team that beat us last time,” said Iowa State’s designated hitter Tori Torrescano.” But it was also frustrating at the same time to see us hit so well this time, when we know we could have done it last time too.”
The Panthers answered in the third inning with a pair of solo home runs by Mackenzie Daigh and Rachel Gerking to bring the score to 6-2, but Torrescano then answered back with a solo home run of her own to get the Cyclones back on the board in the bottom of the fourth.
With an 8-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth, Miller stepped to the plate with two runners on base and hit her second home run of the game, giving her five RBIs on the day.
Torrescano then ended the game two pitches later with another solo home run, giving the Cyclones an eight-run lead, enough for the game to be called after five innings of play.
“I think everybody went in with the mindset of revenge because we weren’t on our game last week and it wasn’t okay with anybody,” Torrescano said. “We wanted to prove to them and to ourselves that we could beat them.”
The Cyclones will be back in action at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Southwest Athletic Complex with a double-header against Minnesota.
