The only thing sick about ISU club baseball pitcher Blake Wilken was his breaking balls.

The right-handed senior, who was hampered with the flu for the past week, struck out eight UNI hitters with an assortment of off-speed pitches in seven innings of work as the Cyclones (2-5, 2-6) were swept by the Panthers (2-3, 2-3) before a small crowd at Cap Timm Field on Wednesday.

Wilken, who at one point retired seven Panther hitters in a row, four by strikeouts, kept the Cyclones within striking distance in game one of the doubleheader. Northern Iowa, however, jumped on the right-hander for three earned runs in the seventh inning of a 6-3 loss.

“I just got tired,” Wilken said. “I just ran out of gas in the seventh inning. I made some mistakes, left some pitches up, and it hurt me.”

Wilken wasn’t the only one making mistakes as the Cyclones’ defense faltered late in the seventh inning. Leading 2-1, the Panthers opened the top of the seventh with Mitch Leahy reaching first on an error. It was all downhill from there for Iowa State, as Northern Iowa added four more hits in the inning, including a bloop single that dropped between second baseman Bryan Scholar and right fielder Matt Harriman.

Scholar, who doubles as team manager, said he made another mistake that won’t show up on the box score.

“Blake pitched great,” Scholar said. “I think if I had done it differently, I would have had someone warming up in the seventh.”

The mistakes carried throughout the day as the Cyclones were destroyed for 13 runs in a 13-2 loss in game two. The loss, which included a home run by ISU designated hitter Trevor Ennenga, was overshadowed by a shaky Cyclone pitching staff that issued four walks and hit seven batters.

“At one point, I think every guy they had on base had been hit,” Ennenga said.

Iowa State stayed close, trailing 3-2 in the fifth inning, until the Panthers rallied for seven runs without earning a single hit.

“It was like a snowball effect,” Scholar said. “It was one of the worst baseball games I have ever been a part of.”

Former ISU basketball player Ross Marsden, who recently left the team, made his baseball club debut, going 0-2 batting as a designated hitter in game one. In game two, he took the mound, striking out two batters and giving up three runs.

Even with the shaky pitching, Scholar said he wants to see his team play without making any mistakes on defense.

“As a whole, I’d love to see a game without errors,” he said. “I want to see no errors.”