For only his second time on the mound this spring, including practice, Bryan Junge made his presence well-known. Making his first appearance of the baseball season, Junge held the Iowa Hawkeyes (3-2) to only two runs in three innings of work to help preserve the Cyclones’ (1-1) first victory of the season and salvage a series split at Cap Timm Field on Sunday.

“It came back pretty fast,” said Junge after the Iowa State’s game-two 11-6 victory. “You just have to take your time and focus on the pitches you need to make.”

The left hander made plenty of pitches as he held off numerous Hawkeye scoring attempts in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Junge got Iowa’s Alex Mericle to ground out in the fourth, stranding two runners.

“Junge did great today,” said second baseman and club president Bryan Scholar. “He stayed ahead of hitters and kept them in check.”

Not all of the Cyclones were as refreshed as Junge. Iowa State was held scoreless for the first four innings of game one. They finally broke out in the fifth inning, scoring six runs, including an RBI single by Shane Hansmeier. By then, Iowa State had already built themselves in a deep enough hole and eventually fell 12-7.

The Cyclones, whose first three series of the season were postponed including Friday’s matchup with the Hawkeyes in Cedar Rapids, hit the field for the first time Sunday.

“It showed we haven’t played a game yet,” Scholar said. “We played horrible defensively in the first game but we were resilient and battled hard.”

Iowa State had previously spent most of the preseason practicing indoors at the Lied Recreational Athletic Center.

“It was difficult to pick the ball up right away because we haven’t been outside,” said catcher Trevor Ennenga.

Ennenga, like many of his Cyclone teammates, started the day off rough but finished strong with a hit and three RBI in the second game.

Junge was just happy to see the improvement over the course of the day.

“We definitely took a step in the right direction today,” Junge said.

Iowa State returns to action on Saturday when it opens a two-day series with Northern Iowa at Cap Timm Field.

This time, Scholar said, his team will not be set back from Mother Nature after his team’s play against the Hawkeyes.

“This is definitely what we were hoping for [a split],” Scholar said.

“It gives us a lot of confidence going into the UNI game next weekend.”