The ISU softball team dropped both its games to No. 8 Oklahoma this weekend, losing 5-3 and 9-1 in two hard-fought contests.

In the first game, Oklahoma pitcher and national Player of the Year finalist D.J. Mathis dominated for the first five innings, allowing just two hits through four innings before the Cyclones started a two-out rally in the fifth.

In all, Mathis gave up five hits and three runs, striking out nine in a complete-game effort.

“She’s a lot better pitcher this year than she has been in the past. She has command and knows what she wants to do,” co-head coach Gary Hines said. “At most times, she was doing it. She was a quality pitcher today.”

The Sooner offense scored all of its runs in the second and fifth innings. In the top of the second, Samantha Ricketts reached base on an infield single and Lindsey Vandever walked. After Savannah Long laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move the runners up, Wendy Trott hit a run-scoring single, which was followed by another single to load the bases for Player of the Year candidate Amber Flores.

Flores walked to bring in another run, chasing freshman starter Rachel Zabriskie from the game. Sophomore Charissa Carlin relieved her and promptly got the next two batters to ground out.

Zabriskie took the loss after allowing three runs and two walks in 1.1 innings.

Carlin’s drop ball kept Oklahoma hitters at bay for the rest of the game as she constantly got hitters to ground out to Cyclone infielders. Carlin allowed just five fly balls against the most dangerous home-run-hitting team in the conference.

“She had a great pitching performance against what I think is the best offense in the conference,” Hines said. “They’re going to hit the ball hard, but you try to keep them in the park and see if we can get some ground balls out of them. She came in, got out of a jam, and got a bunch of ground balls. She did what we asked her to do and she kept us in the game.”

Freshman catcher Sara Stinson agreed.

“Her pitch is the drop ball – that’s her out-pitch, and that’s basically what she did for us today,” she said. “She came in and did a great job of getting hitters out.”

Carlin and Zabriskie held Oklahoma’s top hitters in check, getting Ricketts, Flores and Long to go a combined 1-for-10.

“We really did well against their top hitters and we made some really good defensive plays,” Hines said.

The Cyclones didn’t get on the scoreboard until the fifth inning. After sophomore Courtney Wray grounded out and senior Ariel Coburn flied out to begin the inning, five consecutive Cyclone hitters reached base against Mathis.

After sophomore Sydni Jones singled and sophomore Carrie Monroe was hit by a pitch, pinch hitter Jacquelyn Beatty reached base on a dropped third strike. Senior Kristy Olsen and sophomore Kelsey Kidwell followed with run-scoring singles to make the score 5-3. The rally ended when Olsen was thrown out trying to advance to third base on Kidwell’s single.

Kidwell and Jones each had two hits for the Cyclones.

“If we could have found a way to get some hits earlier in the ball game and not stake them to a 3-0 lead, we might have pulled it out,” Hines said. “They fought hard, they really did. It’s what we’re looking for and something you want every time we take the field.”

In the second game, the Cyclone offense scored just one run despite outhitting the Sooners 8-7 in the 9-1 loss. The ISU offense left eight runners on base and finished 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position. The Cyclones had won their previous 20 games in which they had outhit their opponents.

Oklahoma may have had fewer hits against Iowa State, but they made them count, hitting two-run homers in the first and third innings and using a three-run triple in the seventh inning to close the door on Iowa State for good.

Senior Amie Ford took the loss after giving up both homers and was relieved by Zabriskie with two outs in the third inning. Zabriskie pitched well in relief, preventing the Sooners from getting another hit until the seventh inning, when Oklahoma exploded for four more runs. Lauren Eckermann picked up the win for the Sooners, giving up one run on five hits in 4.1 innings.

“That lineup is one of the best you’re ever going to see,” Hines said. “We made a couple of mistakes, but I thought our pitchers did a tremendous job.”

In the bottom of the second inning, sophomore Alex Johnson crushed a home run to left field that cleared the fence by more than 40 feet for the only Cyclone run. Jones followed with a towering double off the center field fence, but was stranded at second when Beatty struck out to end the inning.

Jones went 4 for 6, and Kidwell had three hits and two RBIs combined in both games..

Despite losing both games, Stinson believes the Cyclones can stand against anyone.

“This was an upset for us, but in my mind, I know we can hang with anyone,” Stinson said. “We just have to get over that hump and get out there and prove it.”