The bats were being swung, but it wasn’t the Cyclones doing the swinging.

Intrastate rival Iowa came to Ames on Thursday and tacked on another loss to the ISU softball team’s already bleak 10-23 overall record, shutting out the Cyclones 4-0.

The Hawkeyes took advantage of freshman pitcher Alyssa Ransom early in the game, scoring their four runs in the first three innings. Leading the charge was junior pitcher Lisa Birocci with a two-run home run in the second.

Their first run, scored in the first inning, came on a miscommunicated double play.

The Cyclones got the batter out at first followed by a tag at second. Hawkeye Natalie Johnson was able to score before the third out was made.

Johnson was able to score again for the Hawkeyes on an error by second basemen Jennifer Bigbee. Bigbee botched the grounder when she lost it between her legs. The batter, Stacy May, started to head to second after the ball was thrown home, but changed her mind and tried to return to first, where she was thrown out to end the inning.

Birocci’s home run didn’t come easily. Ransom got ahead in the count, but Birocci came back by fouling off five pitches before drilling the sixth one over the left-field wall for a two-run shot.

ISU head coach Ruth Crowe was disappointed with Ransom after Birocci’s at-bat, but said it was a learning experience.

“I think it’s something a lot of freshman pitchers have to learn — when you’re ahead in the count, you have to learn how to keep it off the plate or get them to swing at a bad pitch,” Crowe said.

Ransom was upset with her performance on the day and blamed herself for not being aggressive.

“I came into the game very flat, and I wasn’t where I needed to be,” she said. “You can’t [not be aggressive] when you’re facing a hitter like that.”

Ransom’s pitching improved in the later innings of the game. She said that was how she should have started. Ransom’s record falls to 7-13 for the season.

If the cause of the Cyclones’ loss could be pinned on one factor, that factor would have been Lisa Birocci.

Birocci took a no-hitter into the fourth inning before junior Misty Kimura doubled on a hit that bounced off the center field wall. Birocci overcame the hit and pitched three more strong innings to finish with 10 strikeouts and allowed only three hits.

The Cyclones finally showed some spark in the final inning, adding two more hits to load the bases after a Bigbee walk. But pinch-hitter Katie Reichling went down on strikes to end the game.

Crowe was disappointed with her team’s performance but said it was to be expected with a young team facing a great pitcher.

“I think offensively we could have maybe, if the game had gone on longer, caught up to [Birocci]. She was very determined to not let us beat her again since we’ve beaten her a couple times before,” she said.

“She came out with a lot of fire, and we didn’t answer the challenge.”

The Cyclones will get back into conference play when they host Big 12 foe Texas this weekend. The Longhorns come to Ames with a 18-17 overall record and are 0-7 in conference play.

Amber Hall leads the Longhorns with a .398 batting average. Teammate Wynter Turner has six home runs and 25 RBIs to lead the team in both categories.

The Cyclones will play two games this weekend at the Southwest Athletic Complex. Game times are 1 p.m. Saturday and noon on Sunday.