Katherine Cross’ one-out single in the bottom of the seventh plated Kelsey Kidwell for the winning run in a 3-2 victory over Drake on Sunday afternoon at the Southwest Athletic Complex. The win boosted the Cyclones to a 3-1 record in this weekend’s Big Four Tournament, and a 6-2 finish for the eight-game fall season.

Iowa State took advantage of a few Bulldog defensive miscues in the bottom of the first to put the game’s first two runs on the board. The Cyclone bats were then silenced for the next five innings, until they put the winning run across in the seventh.

A solid performance on the mound by senior Katie Reichling kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard until the sixth inning. Reichling gave up just one earned run on three hits in 5 2/3 innings while striking out seven.

The Cyclones then called on senior Alyssa Ransom to get the final out of the sixth inning, stranding the Bulldogs potential tying run on third base.

But Drake senior Emily Hajduk erased Iowa State’s slim lead when she led off the top of the seventh with a towering solo home run over the left field wall to knot the game at two.

Kidwell started the Cyclones one-out rally in the bottom of the seventh with a pinch-hit single, then advanced to third on a single by Amanda Bradberry, who moved to second base on the throw. Drake then walked Kristy Olsen to load the bases, setting the table for Cross’ game winner. Kidwell, Bradberry and Cross all came off the bench for the Cyclones, giving the offense the spark that it needed to put a run across in the seventh.

“Since it’s the fall season, we like to switch out some of our players in the last two or three innings so everybody gets an opportunity to show what they can do,” coach Stacy Gemeinhardt said.

Iowa State used six different players off the bench in the game.

The game against Drake was the second half of a doubleheader on Sunday for the Cyclones, who dropped the first game of the day to Iowa, 12-0. Hawkeye pitcher Stephanie Ackerson scattered just four hits in five innings and struck out six, while the Hawkeye offense pounded out 12 runs on 13 hits, including an eight-run third inning.

Iowa State’s potent offense that was silenced on Sunday was the difference on the first day of the tournament, as the Cyclones posted wins over Northern Iowa and Drake on Saturday, 7-3 and 13-7 respectively.

Although she believes the team still has a lot of work to do this winter, Gemeinhardt is pleased with what she has seen so far.

“We have a lot of depth, and I’ve seen a real nice balance of production between both our new players and returners,” she said. “We did a lot of things well this weekend, but we have plenty of things to work on before spring.”