With the season winding down for the ISU softball squad, freshman Lindsey Herrin showed a glimpse of a bright future.

Herrin pitched the Cyclones to a 6-2 victory over Creighton Thursday at the Southwest Athletic Complex in their final home contest of the season.

With top pitchers Jen Bice injured and Erica Martinez having the game off, Herrin stepped up to earn her first career victory and complete game.

“It was great for [Herrin] to come out and get her first complete game as a freshman. I think it is a sign of good things to come from her,” ISU head coach Ruth Crowe said. “With Jen being hurt, she really came through for us. We weren’t going to throw Erica no matter what because she has been carrying the load lately in the Big 12.”

After leaving the bases loaded in the second inning, Iowa State took control of the game in the third.

Singles by Julia Lindsey, Martinez and Kelly Wardein loaded the bases with two outs for Katie Ruby. Ruby delievered with a fly ball to right field that hit off the fence for a bases-clearing triple.

Kristin Shipley followed with a single to score Ruby to give the Cyclones a 4-0 advantage.

Ruby’s triple came at a critical time for Iowa State.

“[Ruby] always comes through in the clutch like that. Whether it be hitting a home run or a triple to the fence,” Herrin said. “That’s what kept us up in the game and broke it open.”

In the circle, Herrin pitched seven innings, while allowing two runs off six hits.

“I thought I pitched pretty well,” Herrin said. “I went the whole game and I haven’t gone the whole game all year. I was hitting my spots pretty well.”

The Cyclones’ attack collected 10 hits for the game, to mark the ninth time that it has had double digits in hits this season.

Lindsey and Shipley led the ISU attack with two hits apiece.

Creighton (21-25) was led by DeAnn Kaster, who went 3-for-4 with a double.

The contest also was the final home game for ISU seniors Laura Browning, Amberly Lessenger and Shipley.

The victory moves Iowa State to 17-22 on the season. Holding a 5-11 Big 12 record, the Cyclones will close out conference play by facing Kansas Saturday and Sunday in Lawrence. The Jayhawks, at 6-10 in the conference and 30-22 overall, are just in front of Iowa State in the conference race.

After dropping two games earlier this week at Oklahoma State 1-0 and 8-4, the Cyclones will come up short of reaching its goal of finishing in the top half of the conference, but can improve its seeding for Big 12 Tournament by defeating Kansas.

“Our goal at the beginning of the year was to be in the top half of the Big 12 and we should have taken two games at Oklahoma State, but it didn’t work out that way,” Herrin said. “If we win those two games were going to move up. That’s our goal for the weekend to win both games.”