It was not a happy day for the Cyclones at the Southwest Athletic Complex on Wednesday afternoon.

Conference foe Missouri came to Ames for a doubleheader against the ISU softball team and summarily wiped out the Cyclones by scores of 9-0 and 10-1, upping their record to 23-22.

The Cyclones had a hard time just getting contact with pitches, striking out 11 times in the two games.

As the Cyclones were watching pitches go by them at home plate, the Tigers were watching pitches sail over the center field wall. Missouri took advantage of 30- to 40-mph winds at its back to belt five home runs in the two games. Iowa State did have one homer, a solo shot by Kim Rodgers in the fifth inning of the second game. It was the Cyclones’ only run in either game.

Problems also plagued Iowa State’s defense as it committed seven errors in the doubleheader.

ISU head coach Ruth Crowe was not happy with her team’s performance in either game.

“First of all, we started off with bad pitching. We gave up eight runs in two innings [in the first game] which pretty much set the tone,” she said.

“We aren’t experienced enough or mentally tough enough to come back from that.”

In addition to the seven errors the Cyclones committed, they also had a number of misplays due to miscommunication, bad judgment and bad decision making.

The first game was highlighted by several bad reads due to a bright sun and strong winds allowing balls to drop anywhere.

Game 2 featured the worst decision by the Cyclones in either game.

In the top of the sixth inning, the Tigers were already on top of the score with a 4-1 lead. With two runners on, ISU relief pitcher Kristen Karanzias fielded a grounder by Joanne Loethen. With three Tigers to choose from, Karanzias made a late choice on who to throw out and tossed the ball to second after the runner was already safe, allowing Loethen to reach and Samantha Fleeman to score, making it 5-1.

Karanzias allowed another hit and then gave up a three-run homer to Leanne Bowers. Karanzias was pulled in favor of freshman Alyssa Ransom. Ransom walked her first batter and then gave up two more runs courtesy of a home run by Morgan LeCluyse.

Ransom would get out of the six-run Tiger inning, but by that time the game was out of reach for the Cyclones, who trailed 10-1 and lost by the same score.

The Cyclone starter in Game 2 was freshman Katie Reichling. She pitched four strong innings in her start, allowing two runs on four hits, but was pulled for Karanzias in the fifth. The loss was credited to Reichling, dropping her season record to 1-8.

“I went in there and tried to do my best and did what I could with what we had,” Reichling said.

In game one, the Tigers steamrolled to shut out the Cyclones 9-0. The game was called after the fifth because of the Big 12’s mercy rule. Ransom was the starter for the Cyclones, pitching only 1 2/3 innings and giving up eight runs on eight hits, dropping her record to 8-16 on the year.

The Cyclones were outscored 19-1 on the day.

With the two losses, the Cyclones’ season record falls to 11-28 overall and 1-11 in conference play.

“I knew that if they were able to get a lot of runs against us that it would hurt us and we would be in trouble,” Crowe said.