After winning nine of their previous 10 games and entering Big 12 with some promise, the ISU softball team traveled to Stillwater, Okla., and finished with losses in their past six games.

With the two-game sweep, the Cyclones (22-19, 1-5 Big 12) have now had a losing streak of at least six games in each of the past four seasons.

Iowa State had the opportunity to upset the Cowgirls (36-7, 7-0) on Saturday when it took a 1-0 lead into the ninth.

Junior pitcher Rachel Zabriskie gave up two home runs in the bottom of the seventh, allowing the Cowgirls to win the first game, 2-1.

Sunday’s game two proved to be a dominant performance by the Cowgirls. Zabriskie allowed three runs in the first inning, and the Cyclones were never able to come back, as they lost 4-0.

Not playing with the lead

Sunday’s game was similar to the second game of the Drake series, because of the early runs allowed by the ISU pitchers.

In game two of the Drake and Oklahoma State series, ISU pitchers have allowed seven combined runs in the first innings.

This has been a dramatic shift from where the Cyclones were, prior to the current six-game losing streak.

During the games against opponents, such as Creighton, Texas Tech and Iowa, the Cyclones were able to give the pitchers a lead to work with, and the pitchers were able to sustain the lead, allowing the Cyclones to win nine or their previous 10.

Since the Iowa game, the Cyclones have played with the lead only once, and that was a 1-0 lead over Oklahoma State.

Iowa State has no doubt struggled offensively since its seven run outburst against Iowa. Their offensive output is down to little more than one run per game; down from 4.5 runs per game through the Cyclones first 35 games prior to the losing streak.

Outfielders leading the way

One of the bright spots from this weekend came from the play of the outfielders.

Senior outfielder Kelsey Kidwell, junior outfielder Carleigh Berry and sophomore outfielder Heidi Kidwell combined to go 7-19 (.368) in the series.

Both Kidwells had multi-hit games on Saturday, while Berry had a two-hit game on Sunday.

This season has started off well for all three players. Berry and both Kidwell sisters rank in the top four on the team in hitting.

Heidi Kidwell is first on the team in batting average (.364) and slugging percentage, (.420) while Kelsey Kidwell ranks third in batting average (.312) and Berry ranking fourth in batting average (.308).

The trio was able to get on base against the OSU pitchers, However, the most striking statistic was that none of them were able to come around to score a run.