Michael Zogg – Daily Staff Writer

Iowa State softball climbed back over .500 this weekend in Texas.

The Cyclones finished the Marriott Houston Invitational 3–2, and beat Purdue, Houston and UT-San Antonio and lost to No. 16 Louisiana-Lafayette and No. 20 Texas to improve to 6–5 on the season.

The Marriott Houston Invitational was also the site where senior catcher Alex Johnson became Iowa State’s all-time leader in RBIs. Going into the tournament, Johnson was tied with her predecessor at catcher, 2007 graduate Ashley Killeen, with 104 RBIs.

Johnson broke the record in the second game of the tournament against No. 16 Louisiana-Lafayette when she belted a single with the bases loaded in the sixth innings. Johnson’s RBI capped a four-run sixth inning to tie the game and eventually take the Ragin Cajuns into extra innings.

Although disappointed with ultimately losing the game, the Cyclones were encouraged with the performance of their young pitcher.

“That was by far the best performance out of Tori Torrescano, the freshman pitcher,” said coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler. “That game told us what she can do and how effective she can be when she works ahead and when she has command of her pitches.”

Torrescano also hit the first homerun of her career, belting a leadoff home run in the sixth inning to start the rally.

“It shows that we can compete with anybody when we are playing well,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “What I would have liked to see earlier in the game, we had some strikeouts and I think that really effected them. I think we are too good of players to be as affected as we were. I wish we would have been able to rebound with those second at bats versus the third at bats.”

The high point of the tournament for the Cyclones was a win over the tournament host, Houston. The Cyclones jumped out to a first inning 3–0 lead and junior pitcher Rachel Zabriskie struck out a career-high 13 batters as Iowa State rolled over Houston 9–1.

“That was the second time that I felt we were playing with everything working for the entire game [the other time being against Iowa],” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “I thought that was really a good snapshot of the team we can be.”

Conversely, the low point of the tournament for the Cyclones was an 11–2 loss at the hands of conference-foe Texas.

The Longhorns jumped all over Iowa State early, scoring two runs in the first followed by three in the second, to take a 5–0 early lead.

“We came out and just couldn’t keep the ball in the park, and that resulted in 10 runs out of their 11,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said.

Despite the rough loss, the Cyclones refused to hang their heads.

“I think that they are disappointed because they know they are better then they showed,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler. “But they don’t think that they can’t compete with them.”

Iowa State showed this by beating Houston and UT-San Antonio by a combined score of 18–1 over the final two games of the tournament.

Iowa State also got its first victory in extra innings. The Cyclones played two extra inning games last weekend at the Metrodome Tournamnet but lost them both. The Cyclones were able to overcome Purdue in extra innings with a 3–2 victory in the eighth.

“It is a good experience for our players,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “I think that the two games that we lost previously in tie breakers, we could have won. Now we had a very similar situation and we were able to win. I just think that is a good natural progression from being in those situations.”