No. 20 Aggies throttle Iowa State

Darrin Cline

No. 20 Texas A&M had its way with Iowa State, taking both games of a weekend doubleheader in College Station, Texas, 8-0 and 7-5.

The Aggies (30-9, 3-1 Big 12) blasted Cyclone ace Rachel Zabriskie in the opening game, giving up four hits and seven runs while walking three batters in just 1.1 innings of work.

Iowa State (16-13, 1-3 Big 12) was unable to muster any offense against the home team. Third baseman Erica Miller managed to connect on a fourth-inning single but failed to advance in the only hit of the game.

Sunday’s game began in a similar fashion. After four innings of play, Texas A&M jumped out to a 5-1 lead. However, the Cyclones clawed their way back late in the game.

Heading into the bottom of the sixth, the deficit had been trimmed to two before A&M’s Rhiannon Kliesing hit a Zabriskie pitch for a two-run homer.

In the final inning, the Cyclones returned the favor. With her team back down by four, Dalyn Varela connected on a two-run home run, but it was too little too late. Despite the strong play late in the game, the early-inning errors cost the Cyclones in the 7-5 loss.

With the two losses in College Station, the women are now 1-5 since their six-game win streak in early March.

The squad will return to action Tuesday afternoon against Northern Iowa in an effort to right the ship and avenge a 4-2 loss to the Panthers on March 30.