The Iowa State Cyclone softball team played the Drake Bulldogs on Friday and came on top beating the Bulldogs 10-1. The Cyclones later started out the month of October with a win against the Panthers from Northern Iowa 4-0.

Here are the three big takeaways from the Cyclones’ pair of home wins to continue their fall schedule.

Bat-to-ball contact

The Cyclones came out swinging in both games against the Bulldogs and the Panthers this weekend.

Starting off at the bottom of the eighth for the Cyclones, junior Olivia Wardlow had a trip around all the bases with an in-the-park homerun to left field, moving the Cyclones up 7-1 against the Bulldogs.

The Cyclones finished the game with 13 hits taking down the Bulldogs 10-1.

Against the Panthers, the Cyclones had their first hit of the game at the bottom of the third from senior Milaysia Ochoa with a hard ground ball to center field. Junior Angelina Allen kept the momentum going with a double to center field.

The Cyclones finished the game against UNI with eight hits, and between both games against Drake and the Panthers, they finished with 21 hits.

Defense in the circle and field

The Cyclone defense kept the Drake Bulldogs offense down to finishing the game with only two hits.

From the circle, senior pitcher Saya Swain started out the game strong for the Cyclones with a strikeout by Drake. Swain finished her time in the circle for the Cyclones against Drake with three strikeouts.

Sophomore pitcher Tatum Johnson had a strong start against Drake with three hitters up to bat that all ended with a strikeout.

Out in the field, the Cyclones took care of business when the ball was in play. The Bulldogs’ Jayme Scheck had a hard drive in the top of the fourth that was caught at the fence in center field by Ochoa.

Ochoa had another huge catch to add to the list for the Cyclones in center field from a huge hit by Kate Lappe of UNI.

The Cyclones finished the game against UNI with only one error in the field.

Comeback from a tough loss

The Cyclones came back Sunday afternoon after losing to the Hawkeyes by beating the Panthers 4-0.

While in the circle for the Cyclones, the pitchers did their job to hold the Panther offense. Senior pitcher Karlie Charles finished the game with four strikeouts and no walks.

Against the Hawkeyes, the Cyclones were struggling to finish their part on offense while runners were on base. The Cyclones changed that momentum playing the Panthers with hits moving runners.

While runners were on base, Johnson hit a sacrifice fly to center field to move runners Allen to third and Ochoa home to score the first run of the game for the Cyclones.

Johnson later had a base hit to right field to reach first, and senior Alesia Ranches moved pinch-runner Ireland Buss to third with a strong double to right field. Sophie Maras had a base hit to beat the throw to first base to bring Buss home for the second run scored by the Cyclones.

The Cyclones finished the weekend against UNI with a win having eight hits and a final score of 4-0.