The Iowa State baseball team came away with two wins in the season opening doubleheader against Wisconsin-Milwaukee

After ending a six-game losing streak with a dominating 14-9 victory over Creighton on Mar. 19 in Omaha, the Cyclones carried the momentum into the two-game home series against Wis.-Milwaukee. ISU downed the Panthers 4-3 in the first game and 1-0 in the second yesterday at Capp Tim field.

Hits were hard to come by for the Cyclone batters, but they were able to pull out the sweep of the visiting Panthers.

In the first game, ISU was powered by center fielder Mike Bahun and catcher Matt McDonough at the plate.

Bahun went 1-for-4 and recorded the game winning hit in the bottom of the seventh. The senior center fielder ended the game with a shot to the right-center gap scoring Chris Grubb, who reached on a single to open the inning.

“I knew he’d come right at me, he couldn’t walk me with the winning run on,”Bahun said.

Cyclone Head Coach Lyle Smith felt the team’s low offensive output was due to a lack of mental preparation.

“I didn’t think we came out with the same edge as we did against Creighton,” Smith said.

“You bang 20 hits out [Wednesday] and you struggle to get two hits on [Thursday]. That’s mental.”

“We need to play better, we had a letdown today after yesterday. If we combine our pitching with good hitting we’ll be alright.” Bahun said.

Catcher Matt McDonough went 1-for-3 recording a double in the bottom of the first that resulted in the first three runs for the Cyclones.

Senior Steve Larkin recorded the win in relief of starting pitcher Shawn Sedlacek.

Larkin upped his record to 2-1 on the season while pitching two innings and gave up a run on one hit while striking out four Panther batters.

“My job is the closer, and guys look for me to come in and get the ground balls and put us in a situation to win the game,” said pitcher Steve Larkin.

McDonough stepped up big for the Cyclones in the second game leading Iowa State to a 1-0 victory. The Cyclones catcher went 1-for-3, recording the only run of the contest on a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning.

Pitcher Brad Waldron, making his first appearance on the mound since injuring his back before spring break, was spectacular in holding the Panther batters without a run in six innings of work.

Waldron struck out six while only allowing two base-on-balls in the six innings.

“I was pleased with [Waldron’s effort],” Smith said. “Waldron’s been our third starter, so we were on our spring trip with out a starter.”

Larkin came in for one inning of work to preserve the victory and record his second save of the season.

“We have a great pitching staff and great hitters and this is probably one of the best teams that I’ve ever seen here at Iowa State in a while. It’s just a matter of getting everything together and we’ll be alright,” Larkin said.

The Cyclones will face Kansas in a three-game series at home this weekend.

The series kicks off on Saturday with the first game of a double header starting at noon. Action against the Jayhawks concludes with on Sunday with the third and final game starting at 1 p.m.