Drake pitcher Brynne Dordel entered Tuesday’s game against Iowa State having allowed 14 earned runs and an opponent batting average of just .202.

However, the Cyclones had little trouble getting on base against Drake’s leading pitcher. Dordel allowed five hits, walked three and hit two, allowing 10 ISU baserunners.

Of those 10 runners, Iowa State only brought two around to score. A problem that would prove costly for the Cyclones during Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to Drake.

“We definitely had enough hits to win,” said ISU coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler. “When we strand nine runners then at least we have people on to score, but we just didn’t get it done. I don’t want to read a whole lot into it than that.”

The Cyclones have now dropped their third straight game. It was their third-straight game decided by two runs or less and second straight one-run loss.

Currently the Cyclones rank second-to-last in the Big 12 in runs per game with 4.3 however, Gemeinhardt-Cesler still has confidence that the team will be able to improve its hitting with runners in scoring position and consequently score more runs.

“I’m not worried about [stranding runners],” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “I have a lot of confidence in the team that once we do something like strand nine runners, then the next time.”

Prior to Tuesday’s game, the Cyclones had done well at taking advantage of run scoring opportunities.

The nine stranded runners was the highest total since stranding 10 against Creighton on March 23.

ISU pitcher Rachel Zabriskie said the team’s struggles with runners on base was frustrating and possibly affected her performance, but will serve as a very good learning experience moving forward.

“I try not to think about [the team having a hard time scoring runs] but it obviously frustrates everyone in the dugout; you can tell,” Zabriskie said. “We just try to stay positive but leaving that many runners on is frustrating for them and I try not to think about it while I’m on the mound and usually I keep a positive attitude but [on Tuesday] I just didn’t do it.”

Zabriskie’s performance was another quality start. The Cyclones’ all-time leader in wins went all seven innings, allowing just three runs on four hits while striking out four. This loss marked Zabriskie’s third time this season she pitched all seven innings, allowing three runs or less, but still lost the game.

With the bulk of the team’s Big 12 schedule approaching, the Cyclones know that taking advantage of every scoring opportunity and supplying run support for Zabriskie will be vital if they plan on being contenders come Big 12 tournament time.

“[Zabriskie] pitched well as usual,” said freshman infielder Erica Miller. “Sometimes there’s hard hits but we’re supposed to score runs to help make the pitcher comfortable and we didn’t score enough runs. But it really helps our team out that she can keep the other team to as least amount of runs as possible.”