The first Big 12 win of the season was followed up by what the ISU softball team felt was a lackluster effort.

Iowa State dropped the second game of the series with Texas Tech 4-3 on Sunday in front of a crowd of 178 at the Southwest Athletic Complex, after taking the first game 7-2 on Saturday.

“We set goals before [Saturday’s] game and it was: To stay up for seven innings, be aggressive, score six runs and no errors,” said sophomore left fielder Carleigh Berry. “Yesterday we achieved all of them and today we came back and we said, ‘Well we want to do the same goals,’ and I guess we just didn’t achieve the goals that we wanted. I don’t think everyone was quite as intense as we were yesterday.”

The lack of intensity seemed to manifest itself the most on offense where the Cyclones managed just five hits and three runs. Although those totals are not bad, the team’s current pitching situation — three of the four pitchers are on the injured list — will require more run support until the team gets a few more pitchers back into the rotation.

“Sooner or later, these are good hitters, they are going catch up to what you are doing, catch up to your speed, catch up to what you’re throwing,” said sophomore pitcher Rachel Zabriskie, who pitched every inning of the series this weekend.

That seemed to be the case this weekend as the Red Raider hitters were held to one hit and no runs until the fifth inning, when they were facing Zabriskie for the 5th or 6th time in the weekend. Texas Tech went on to score one, two, and one runs in the final three innings respectively, racking up six hits and getting one error in that time span.

To counter opposing teams getting used to Zabriskie, the Cyclones feel they must pick up the slack on offense.

“It’s important for us, especially when we are throwing the same pitcher twice that we come out, you have to be better on the second day than we were on the first because they have seen her for a full seven innings and then another seven innings,” said coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler. “So it’s important for us to come ready and come better Sunday then what we are Saturday.”

The team seemed to come out playing well as Zabriskie was mowing down batters, allowing just one bloop hit in the second before retiring the next nine batters in order.

Meanwhile, Iowa State took a 2-0 lead on junior catcher Alex Johnson’s two-run home run in the fourth inning, which put her all alone for No. 2 on the all-time RBI leader’s list.

Texas Tech answered with a run in the fifth and took a 3-2 lead in the top of the sixth on a two-run home run by centerfielder Megan Sharp.

The Cyclones tied it up in the bottom of the inning on Sydni Jones’ RBI single, scoring Berry.

In the top of the seventh, a Skyler Peterson single, an error on short stop Carrie Monroe and a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out, bringing Texas Tech junior second baseman Leah Legler to the plate.

“I have been struggling up to bat, but I knew that I had to get it in the air to the outfield. I had had a similar at bat the previous at bat, so I was confident that I could hit it a little bit further that time and it felt pretty good to get the barrel on the ball,” Legler said. “I was hoping it was hit far enough to score the runner in from third.”

It was, bringing Peterson home and giving the Red Raiders a 4-3 lead.

The Cyclones then got lead-off hitter Carrie Monroe on when she was hit by a pitch, but stranded her at second base to end the game.