The Iowa State softball team left the Southwest Athletic Complex disappointed on Tuesday after letting the Missouri-Kansas City Kangaroos hop past them in the second game of a doubleheader.

The Cyclones grabbed the first game by a score of 9-2, but fell 2-0 in the nightcap.

In game one, ISU was aided offensively by six UMKC errors.

“They pretty much gave us the game in the first one,” Assistant Coach Cara Coughenour said.

ISU collected nine hits, including two each by Kimi Yoshizawa, Cinnamon Gooding and Jessica Polo. Polo, Stephanie Skamnes and Jaime Kahler recorded two RBI apiece.

Mandy Loushin threw a three-hit complete game for the Cyclones. Loushin allowed two runs and struck out nine Kangaroos to earn her eighth victory against 10 defeats.

ISU jumped all over the Roos with six runs crossing the plate in the fifth inning.

In the second game of the twinbill, ISU could manage little from the batter’s box. The Cyclones mustered just four hits in the seven-inning contest, as UMKC starter Emily Monteano kept ISU in check.

The game was scoreless until the top of the last inning when UMKC third baseman Michelle Ackley drilled a Kristin Ferguson offering over the left field wall for a two-run homer.

Until that point, Ferguson had tossed a beauty, scattering just four hits and getting 17 groundball outs. The loss dropped the freshman’s record to 3-6 on the season.

The Cyclones could not retaliate, stranding Polo on second base after a one-out double.

“It’s a big disappointment that we didn’t take both,” Polo said, giving credit to the pitching of the Cyclone hurlers.

“We need to go back to hitting the ball,” she said. “We’ve done it before, so you know it’s there.”

Coughneour agreed that the team’s pitchers did well on Tuesday, especially without being afforded a cushion to work with. “There’s a lot of pressure [on the pitchers] when we’re not performing offensively,” she said.

She said the team is struggling at the plate because of a lack of confidence and aggression. “Our hitting is not at all where it needs to be,” Coughneour said.

One bright spot for ISU was the solid contact made by Polo, the team’s shortstop. Polo had three hits on the afternoon in seven plate appearances.

“I’ve been relaxed,” she said. “That’s the big thing.”

She said that stepping to the dish relaxed is what the whole team needs to focus on.

Coughenour said she was pleased by Polo’s play because she had previously struggled offensively.

“It was a breakthrough series for her,” she said.

ISU looks to break out the whooping sticks at home this weekend with conference doubleheaders against Kansas and Missouri on Saturday and Sunday.

“This weekend is very important for us,” Coughenour said. “We could do very well against them.”