It was a game filled with offense and errors, but the ISU softball team wasn’t the one making the mistakes.

Intrastate rival Drake made the trip up to Ames on Thursday to face the Cyclones and went home with a 6-3 loss.

A potential run for the Bulldogs in the top of the third inning was negated after two mistakes, one by each team.

Drake’s Lindsey Larry hit a pop fly to center field caught by Iowa State’s Fallon Johnson.

Lauren Smith was on second at the time of Larry’s pop fly and ran to third base, thinking she had tagged up at second.

Johnson’s throw to Julia Lindsey at third base was misplayed by Lindsey, and the ball went into the Drake dugout.

Though Smith would have had a chance to advance to home on the botched play, officials ruled she hadn’t tagged up properly on the flyout and she was forced to return to second.

“We caused the whole controversy by just coming up and not knowing what the umpire had signaled,” ISU head coach Ruth Crowe said.

“You can’t just come up and kind of lose your head and throw it. We didn’t do a good job catching the ball at third, and we allowed it to go into the dugout.”

In the bottom of the third, junior Misty Kimura lined a shot into center, allowing Lindsey and freshman catcher Ashley Killeen to score.

An error by center fielder Jenna Wilkin allowed the ball to drop.

“I was just looking for something down because the whole game she was throwing low, and I was ready for it again,” Kimura said.

Drake’s first run came on a grounder in the fourth. In the fifth inning, Bulldog pitcher Katie Shimon belted a two-run homer, tying the game 3-3.

“[It was a] bad pitch,” freshman pitcher Alyssa Ransom said.

“She was a good hitter, and I probably shouldn’t have thrown a change-up as high as I did.”

The Cyclones answered right back in the bottom of the fifth, as Rodgers hit a single over the second baseman’s head, driving in two runs.

With two runners still on base, designated hitter Katie Reichling singled in a third run to give the Cyclones a 6-3 lead that held up.

Ransom got her first win in a month, and the Cyclones are now 11-25. Their all-time record against Drake now stands at 57-16.

With the loss, the Bulldogs fall to 23-21.

The Cyclones will head back on the road this weekend, traveling to Waco, Texas, to take on Baylor.

The 39-12 Bears (8-5 Big 12), are 20-2 at home this season. The Bears have won two in a row, beating Texas and Texas State.

The team leads the conference with a 1.16 ERA and is third in batting average, hitting .272.

Pitcher Cristin Vitek is 24-6 with an ERA at 0.87 and has been named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week three times. Teammate Lisa Ferguson is 14-4 with her ERA sitting at 1.03.

“It’s going to be really tough this weekend,” Crowe said of the upcoming games. “They are a much different team than what they were last year.

“They’re highly offensive; they’ve got over 90 stolen bases this year, which is a ton.”

“Their pitching is a lot better, everything is better. So it’s going to be a totally different game for us.”

Game times are 2 p.m. Saturday and 12:30 p.m. Sunday in Waco.