Junior Erica Martinez knew bad weather was coming. Her home run in the bottom of the fifth inning beat the lightning and Western Illinois at the same time.

“When Adi [Blackmon] was up I could tell the weather was looking pretty bad,” said Martinez who went 2-3 and had 3 runs-batted-in.

The home run, her second of the game and tenth of the season, put the Cyclones in front 6-5 as the game was called due to lighting minutes later.

It was the first lead of the day for Coach Ruth Crowe’s ISU softball team, upping their record to 16-18 (5-7).

The team has played eleven games in fourteen days and Crowe was happy to walk away with their third win in that stretch.

“It was good for us to come back,” said Crowe.

“We didn’t get down and Erica stepped up big. It was a great,” she said. “Before the fifth inning started we knew it [weather] was coming so I told our team to treat it like it was the seventh.”

The Westerwinds (22-13), who hail from the Mid-Continent Conference, scored all five of their runs in the first two innings off freshman pitcher Lindsey Herrin.

Martinez came in to get the last out of the second and finished the rest of the shortened game herself.

She tallied six strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings to gain the win, upping her personal record to 9-11.

“I was behind in the count a lot yesterday against Nebraska, but today I was more ahead of their hitters,” said Martinez.

At the plate the Cyclones tallied nine hits, two each by Martinez, Kristin Shipley, and Kelly Wardein who added two doubles.

The only inning they failed to score in was the fourth.

A big play that set up Martinez’s heroics was the hit by junior Adi Blackmon.

Blackmon hit a roller back toward the middle. The pitcher, third baseman, and first baseman all charged to field it leaving first base uncovered and Blackmon safe with an infield hit.

Crowe was happy with the contribution she received from her fifth, sixth and seventh spots in the batting order as they combined for five hits.

“Kelly Wardein did a great job. [Katie] Ruby and Shipley also did well,” said Crowe.

The Cyclones get one day of rest before the 18th-ranked Texas Longhorns ride into town for a pair of games Saturday and Sunday at 1p.m.

“I like playing every day,” said Martinez. “Rest is nice, but games are what will make us better.”

After this weekend the team will face Creighton in its last home game of the season on April 25 at 4 p.m. The Big 12 Tournament begins April 29 in Oklahoma City.

On a bad note, pitcher Jen Bice will likely miss this weekend’s games with an injured rotator cuff.