The Iowa State softball team took to the dirt this Easter weekend and didn’t forget its brooms.

The Cyclones swept the Texas Tech Red Raiders in three games, all by the early-inning run rule 8-0, 11-1 on Saturday, and 8-0 on Sunday.

“We went out and did what we were looking for and that was to play consistent all weekend throughout the three games,” Iowa State Head Coach Deb Kuhn said.

Explosive bats, solid defense and a strong pitching staff hurled Iowa State to the three wins, bringing its record to 13-10 in the season.

Texas Tech is struggling this year. With a 3-30 record, it is bringing up the rear of the Big 12 Conference.

“I think it’s important for us to go out against these new teams and take control. Everything’s certainly a new ball game with these new series,” Kuhn said. “We’ll take the knowledge we’ve gained into the tournament.

“We started off kind of slow, but now we’re playing really great softball,” she added.

In the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, Debbie Nease threw a one-hitter from the mound and struck six batters out. The ISU defense backed her up as it committed no errors.

The Cyclones were potent from the box smashing three home runs, all in the fourth inning.

Angie Balakshin started the trend. The senior shortstop circled the bases twice, scoring two runs.

Erin Woods was up next to crush her ball. Woods crossed the plate twice also. Kally Hogan followed suit and brought herself out of a Kuhn-proclaimed “slump” with a dinger.

“What was obvious to most people was our offense. It was very explosive,” Kuhn said.

“I was very happy that Kally had the kind of day she did yesterday [Saturday]. She’s really been swinging the bat well. She’s been on the ball hard and it was nice to see things finally fall for her,” Kuhn said.

“But what was equally as impressive was our solid defense,” she added.

Again, in the second game, the Cyclone defense did not commit a single error.

Hogan smacked another home run for two RBIs and added a single to her hit list. Centerfielder Jane Wagner went 3-for-4 from the box and scored three times. All were singles.

Missy Danilson just keeps going and going. Just recently named a Gatorade All-American because of her endurance, strength and athletic ability, she proved her worthiness of the award going 3-for-3 and stealing a base in the game and 4-for-6 overall.

In Sunday’s afternoon game, the Easter Bunny delivered the sweets again to the Cyclones and to pitcher Lynea Backlund. Behind the hurling of the freshman’s shutout, ISU captured another win, 8-0, in just five innings.

The Cyclones jumped out to an early 5-0 lead.

Base hits by Texas Tech in the fourth didn’t phase ISU, as shortstop Balakshin and third baseman Wendy Walls were an effective one-two defensive threat. They combined for seven outs of fifteen.

Three runs were scored in the fifth and brought the series to a close.

Walls batted in a run with a single and a Texas Tech throwing error enabled two base runners to cross the plate.

Kuhn thought most of her team’s success came from the strong pitching performances of her hurlers.

“I thought all three pitchers did a great job,” Kuhn said.

Backlund sits at 3-1, while veterans Nease and Lobel have records of 3-4 and 2-3, respectively.

The Cyclones have a tough week ahead. On Tuesday they take on Kansas in Lawrence, and then come back to battle intrastate rival Iowa in Iowa City on Thursday.

Kuhn is hoping for some weather changes in the future, noting that the colder weather makes playing more difficult.

“It wasn’t nice out here. It was cold and hard to stay focused through the weather conditions. So hopefully next week things will shape up,” Kuhn said. “But I think that says something about our mental toughness.”