AMES — Iowa State dropped the second game of its series against BYU 9-5 on Friday following Thursday’s 5-3 win. The loss marks the second home defeat of the season.
1-2-3 first inning leads to Cyclones’ first runs of the game
Iowa State junior starting pitcher Jaiden Ralston retired the first three batters of the game, BYU’s Lily Owens, Hailey Morrow and Ilove’a Brittingham. An RBI from Cyclones senior outfielder Angelina Allen scored freshman Sereniti Trice and gave Iowa State a 1-0 lead.
“Things went pretty solid through the first four,” Iowa State head coach Jamie Pinkerton said. “There were a lot of plays that I think we got away with [Thursday] that didn’t go our way [Friday], and you saw the end result.”
Junior transfer Reagan Bartholomew recorded her second hit in two games in the bottom of the second inning. Bartholomew returned from injury ahead of the first game against the Cougars.
BYU was held scoreless through the first three innings of the game. The Cyclones scored no runs on one hit at the end of the second.
The Cougars were held to no hits through the top of the third inning as the top of the Cyclone order led off the bottom. Trice was the first Cyclone on base in the bottom of the third after an overthrown ball resulted in a double.
“I always want to set my team up,” Trice said. “It’s big to get the team up and carry that into our bats as the game went on.”
Allen, freshman Jessie Clemons and junior Sydney Malott followed Trice. Clemons flew out to centerfield before Allen earned first base on a walk. A ground ball by Malott ended the third inning on a double play.
The Cyclones stranded two of the first three runners left on base in the third inning.
“I always talk about cleaning up margins,” Pinkerton said. “It’s been a lot of the same so far, we just have to stay consistent.”
BYU erases no-hitter in the fourth
The first hit for BYU was a single to left field from Owens. The Cougars were caught on a double play after a lineout by Morrow resulted in Owens being tagged out. The game was tied after Brittingham hit her first home run of the series.
The Cougars left no batters on base through four. Ralston remained in the game through the fifth inning.
“She battled,” Pinkerton said. “It’s hard when things don’t go your way, but [Ralston] knows how to fight through those situations.”
Cougars struggle on the mound, bring in backup pitcher
A two-run shot by Bartholomew in the fourth inning extended the Cyclone lead to 3-1. Bartholomew batted in junior Tatum Johnson to bring up sophomore infielder Isabelle Nosan.
“It’s all about having confidence in your team,” Bartholomew said. “Keeping a positive mindset and knowing that I have the ability to be back out there is driving me the most.”
Nosan was thrown out at first, and right after, junior McKenna Andrews was hit by a pitch. Trice was walked following a groundout by Clemons.
BYU pitcher Kaysen Korth was pulled from the game following the walk and replaced by freshman Jada Villegas.
“What we were doing was working,” Bartholomew said. “Trying to keep the energy up and relying on our preparation these last two games has helped us succeed.
Three singles from BYU started the top of the fifth inning. Maddie Udall-Wooley, Miranda Mansfield and Aleia Agbayani found bases before Owens walked in Agbayani. Morrow singled to give BYU the lead.
Brittingham’s third at-bat of the game ended in a hit-by-pitch that loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the fifth. All four runs scored in the inning came with two outs. An error at third by Andrews extended the lead to 5-3.
The Cyclones were held scoreless in the fifth.
Cougars add three runs to close out the game
The BYU infielders recorded three groundouts in the bottom of the fifth and two strikeouts in the sixth. The Cougars added two more in the top of the seventh to take a 7-3 lead.
Brittingham’s hit was her second of the game and her third run batted in.
“You don’t win games when you have innings like those,” Pinkerton said. “You can’t give extra runs up and expect to come in with the strongest relief, especially when you’re put in tough situations with multiple runners on base.”
Iowa State scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but fell short, resulting in the series being tied 1-1. The margin was the second-largest home deficit of the season.
Iowa State is back in action at 12 p.m. Saturday in the series-deciding game against BYU.
