It took a near-perfect performance by Missouri pitcher Stephanie Falk through five innings on Sunday to end the Iowa State softball team’s perfect Veishea weekend, but the Cyclones recovered to win the second game of the doubleheader to improve their record to 4-1 since Thursday.

The Veishea weekend started early for ISU on Thursday when it upset then-No. 17 Iowa, 2-1. Jessica Polo drove in both runs on a two-run double in the third inning and Cyclone pitchers Kristin Ferguson and Mandy Loushin scattered seven hits by the host Hawkeyes.

“I think we came out from the beginning ready to go against Iowa,” Cyclone senior Jaime Kahler said. “That’s important, because if we attack from the beginning we can keep adding more pressure. That’s why we were successful this weekend.”

The Cyclones swept a doubleheader over Big 12 Conference foe Kansas at the Southwest Athletic Complex on Saturday, winning 2-1 and 4-3.

Loushin struck out 11 Kansas batters in the first game and Cinnamon Gooding went 4-for-5 at the plate in the doubleheader with two runs-batted-in. Gooding went 3-for-3 at the plate in the first game.

“Cinnamon is hitting with a lot more confidence lately,” ISU Coach Ruth Crowe said. “I don’t know why she is hitting with more confidence, she just is.”

Only one Cyclone batter reached base on Falk in the first five innings of the first game at home on Sunday. Falk is among the Big 12 leaders in every pitching category. Missouri won the first game, 2-1.

ISU got four hits from four different batters to win the second game over the 15th-ranked Tigers on Sunday, 4-1.

“It was satisfying to come back in that second game and win,” Crowe said. “We really had chances to win the first game, we just didn’t come out with the same kind of intensity that we did [Saturday].”

The Cyclones didn’t get a hit against Falk in the first game until Kahler beat out a bouncer to shortstop Shawna Robinson with one out in the sixth inning. Stephanie Skamnes drove in the only run for the Cyclones on a groundout that scored senior Renae Hunting on a sacrifice with two outs in the seventh inning.

“We finally got it going in the seventh inning,” Crowe said of Sunday’s first game. “Then, all of a sudden we came alive, and we could hit.”

Ferguson scattered five hits for a complete-game win in the second game on Sunday.

“I was throwing the ball well in the second game and Erin [Woods] called a good game for me at catcher,” Ferguson said. “It was a total team win.”

The Cyclones finally got to Falk in the second game. Falk was pitching in both games of a doubleheader for the first time this season on Sunday.

“[Falk] was throwing a lot of fast balls [and] she was up in the zone a lot,” Crowe said. “We just weren’t aggressive enough soon enough in the game; we were looking at too many good pitches. I don’t think necessarily she changed, we just became more aggressive.”

Woods got things started for ISU in the second game when she bunted in senior Missy Danilson on a squeeze play with one out in the third inning to give the Cyclones a 1-0 lead.

“[Erin] is really good with her bat, and we really needed to push to get a run,” Crowe said. “Sometimes in tight games you need to be aggressive.”

Crowe said it helped having Danilson, a senior, at third base on the squeeze play.

“I was just hoping for a good bunt, because Missy has good speed and is a veteran at third and knows what to do,” she said.

Even though ISU had the same amount of hits (four) in both games on Sunday, Crowe said the Cyclones did a better job of being aggressive at the plate in the second game.

“I think we did a good job of putting the ball in play in the second game,” she said. “[Missouri] made a lot of mistakes because we were putting the ball on the ground.”

Crowe said the win over arch-rival Iowa on Thursday started the Cyclones on their winning ways during the weekend.

“We were at a turning point with the Iowa game,” she said. “We just needed to come in and establish ourselves a little better. Our confidence was down [and] I think our whole attitude has changed and we expect to win.”

Woods agreed with Crowe that confidence was the key to the weekend.

“We have been more confident and believing in ourselves more lately,” she said. “That really helped us this weekend.”

The victory in the second game improved ISU’s record to 5-8 in the Big 12 and 15-20 overall. Missouri fell to 4-12 and 31-18. The Cyclones played for the last time at home this season in Sunday’s doubleheader.

The Cyclones close out the regular season with road games at Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Minnesota.