AMES – The Cyclones started their home opener with a 4-3 victory over Arizona State in game one. That momentum quickly snapped and landed Iowa State an 18-4 loss in game two.
Clutch hits and stolen bases fuel offense
The Cyclones opened game one of their doubleheader home opener with an offense-based game. Senior outfielder Angelina Allen opened the scoring with a run secured by junior outfielder Tatum Johnson’s single.
Allen went 5-for-6 on the day and scored three runs in game one. Throughout the doubleheader, Allen stood strong and performed well.
“You know it’s my job; I’m here to hit and everyone knows that, so every at-bat no matter the situation, no matter the score, I just kind of stay true to myself,” Allen said.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, junior outfielder Tiana Poole found her chance to score to tie the game at two.
With two runs in the fifth inning, the Cyclones took the lead and the defense took over to secure a victory. Sophomore infielder Isabelle Nosan’s double allowed Allen and freshman infielder Jessie Clemons to score.
A big part of Iowa State’s four runs scored was the seven stolen bases.
Tight defense in the final inning secured game one victory
The Cyclones’ defense got off to a slow start, allowing two runs in the top of the second. As the offense kicked in to bring Iowa State back into the game, the defense peaked at the top of the seventh.
As the Sun Devils were down 4-3, their goal was to come up big in the final inning. With a run scored in the top of the sixth, Arizona State was ready to push for a tie in the final inning.
Ultimately, Iowa State stood its ground. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Lauren Schurman successfully struck out the first batter of the inning.
“I think I did pretty good,” Schurman said. “I think I could have done a little bit better about getting ahead.”
The Cyclones secured the victory with an electric double-play to secure the game’s final two outs.
A defensive landslide costs Iowa State game two
Following a great defensive closeout by the Cyclones, the second game made Iowa State look like a different team. The game started with two errors by the Cyclones and six runs for Arizona State in the top of the first.
Going into the second inning, the Cyclones put up another error and two more runs resulted for the Sun Devils.
At the halfway point, Arizona State was up 11-4. As the Cyclones were down by seven, the momentum never came up to get back in the game.
Iowa State simply wasn’t as sharp in game one, which led to the loss.
The full pitching staff was pulled out in a defensive disaster
Freshman right-handed pitcher Abby Huhn started the game. Huhn pitched for 1.1 innings and had an ERA of 3.24.
Junior Jaiden Ralston pitched partially in the top of the second and put up an ERA of 5.79. Rounding into the third inning came another pitching change. This time, it was freshman Sami Potvin who had an ERA of 5.88.
The final pitcher of the game was sophomore Aziza Rodriguez, who pitched three innings and had an ERA of 13.46.
All around, the game was something that Iowa State should look past and focus on closing out on Saturday.
Despite the tough loss, Iowa State head coach Jamie Pinkerton sees no reason for the team to change defensively.
“No, I don’t think so, you know, we won four in a row against the top 25 RBI teams. It’s nothing to hit the panic button about; we just talked about getting off to better starts,” Pinkerton said.
The Cyclones will be back in action for the series finale against the Sun Devils at 1 p.m. Saturday. The game will be live-streamed on ESPN+.
