The potent Missouri offense overwhelmed the ISU softball team in a midweek doubleheader Wednesday.

Iowa State lost 12-1 by the mercy rule after five innings in game one and 6-1 in the second game at the Southwest Athletic Complex in front of a crowd of 186.

Missouri set the tone for the series by hitting three straight singles and scoring a run in the opening inning, with left fielder Julie Silver getting thrown out while trying to stretch her hit into a double. Then third baseman Lindsey Ubrun cracked a two-run home run to cap off the inning.

The rest of the day was much the same.

The Tigers got off to a similarly fast start in the second game, going up 3-0 in the top of the first on a two-out triple by second baseman Andee Allen.

“We didnt give ourselves much of an opportunity,” said co-head coach Gary Hines. “When you’re behind after the very first at-bat, it puts pressure on the offense to try to do something, so they are not as disciplined and they are probably swinging at pitches that they shouldn’t.”

The Tigers hit five home runs on the afternoon – the Cyclones had just six hits total.

“They are really good, one through five in the batting order,” Hines said. “The leadoff [Rhea Taylor] is as good as advertised. She’s a great player – she makes it look easy. It’s not supposed to be easy, but she makes it look that way.”

Another force for the Tigers was pitcher Stacy Delaney. She pitched a complete game in the second matchup and threatened to turn in a perfect game against the Cyclones, keeping Iowa State off the basepaths until the sixth inning.

“I felt very comfortable out there,” Delaney said. “I’m just building off of a really good week down in Texas against [the Longhorns].”

Cyclone second baseman Courtney Wray said Delaney was really throwing off the hitters’ timing and keeping them from getting anything going. That may be because Delaney wasn’t consistently throwing the same pitches.

“In different innings I had certain pitches, and then in other innings I had other pitches, so overall I was just working with the pitches that were working that inning,” Delaney said.

But as well as Missouri played, Wray feels the Cyclones played just as poorly.

“I think it was a combination of a little lack of communication – all of us weren’t on our hitting game, and then we didn’t respond to their hits and all the runs that they scored like we normally would,” Wray said. “I think a combination of those three things just kind of built up, and we just got more and more frustrated.”

The lack of communication for the Cyclones – normally uncharacteristic of the team – was evident both on and off the field.

“On the field, there were some plays where nobody was talking, so nobody knew where to get the ball or where to throw the ball,” Wray said. “Then nobody was talking and picking them up in the dugout, cheering people on.”