Close games have been something to which the Cyclones have begun to get accustomed. This time, however, Iowa State was on the winning side of a 2-1 nail-biter against the University of Northern Iowa.

The Cyclones came into the game having lost 3-1 to Texas and 3-2 to Iowa.

“We gave up a run early in the game, and we battled back all game,” said Head Coach Stacy Gemeinhardt. “It was good that we didn’t give up and kept plugging away.”

The Cyclones trailed by a score of 1-0 after a first-inning home run, but pitcher Amie Ford, who had been struggling recently, shut down the Panthers for the remainder of the game.

“She did a good job not getting super-frustrated,” Gemeinhardt said. “She was able to still throw a complete game after giving up the home run. I thought that was really big of her.”

After falling behind early, the Cyclones offense was held hitless by Panther pitcher Uju Ibekwe until the sixth inning.

Freshman Whitney Perkins and junior Ashley Killeen began the comeback with a walk and a single, and two wild pitches later the Cyclones had tied the game at one. Junior Katie Reichling came up with the big hit for the Cyclones with a double, giving Iowa State a 2-1 lead that they never relinquished.

The win cut short a losing streak for the Cyclones that had quickly grown to five games. Although the team tries not to let losing streaks affect its play, the Cyclones did admit a little relief knowing they had stopped the streak at five games.

“I still think we haven’t been playing poorly. We just haven’t been winning,” Gemeinhardt said. “It felt nice to be able to get the win today and kind of end on a good note going into this weekend.”

A loss would have dropped Iowa State two games below the .500 mark, but the win brings them to 16-16 and back at .500 for the season, which the Cyclones hope to stay above for the remainder of the season.

“We’re trying to stay above .500 because that was one of our main goals,” Ford said. “Winning games like that, our nonconference games, especially on the road will help us stay above .500.”

A loss also would have meant they would have lost a game to both intrastate rivals Northern Iowa and the University of Iowa, which they definitely didn’t want to do.

“You don’t want to lose to schools in-state, and I thought we did our job today, and we didn’t allow it to happen,” Gemeinhardt said.

With the Cyclones back on the winning track, their attention has turned to mounting a winning streak of their own as they head back on the road to take on Texas Tech this weekend.