The bats of the ISU softball team started out ice cold, but the end of their game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers was red hot.

Nebraska sophomore pitcher Molly Hill (15-7) was five outs away from a no-hitter in the sixth inning before fatigue set in, leading Husker senior Ashley DeBuhr to pick up her third save of season in the seventh. DeBuhr pitched the final two outs with the tying Cyclone runner on base in a 3-1 ISU loss.

The Cyclones (22-33, 1-9 Big 12) were kept in the game by the complete game performance of senior pitcher Alyssa Ransom (10-14), who allowed all three runs in one inning.

Coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler said the Cyclones were right where they wanted to be at the end of the game.

“We had a chance to win it,” she said. “That’s right where we were, and I thought that Al threw, after the second inning, she shut them down.”

Once senior outfielder Fallon Johnson hit a single in the sixth inning, the Cyclones fortunes completely turned. Two hitters later, freshman designated player Alex Johnson drove in the lone run for Iowa State.

Johnson said after her first strikeout, she had a different mindset at the plate.

“I got mad and got an attitude up at the plate,” Johnson said. “I took it out on the pitcher.”

After Johnson doubled, senior outfielder Katie Reichling drove a ball down the first-base line, and, even though it looked foul, it was called fair, and Reichling was tagged out.

The Cyclones did not get a ball out of the infield until the fourth inning and had runners on second and third with one out in the final inning, but could not bring anyone home.

Gemeinhardt-Cesler said Johnson’s hit is what the team needs more of for the rest of the season.

“We’ve been practicing that during practice,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “We just need to keep working on that.”

The Huskers (34-13, 7-4 Big 12), who have won 14 of their last 16, only dropping two 1-0 decisions to Texas A&M, used a home run and two other hits to get things going before Ransom retired 11 straight hitters.

“I don’t think [Nebraska] expected us to come back,” she said.