Iowa State took down No. 18 Oklahoma State Friday in Stillwater, Oklahoma, in a 5-4 extra-innings win. Freshman Karlee Ford brought in the winning run with an RBI single in the top of the eighth inning. The road win is the first-ranked win the Cyclones have claimed this season.
The win brings Iowa State to 8-5 in conference play. With their eighth Big 12 win, the Cyclones broke the program record for most conference wins in a season.
Now, with 11 conference games remaining, they will have the opportunity to shatter that record. With this win, Iowa State now sits third in the Big 12.
The win follows last year’s series in Ames, in which Iowa State took two of three against the then-No. 5 Cowgirls in one of the biggest upsets of the season.
Sophomore Lauren Schurman was the starting pitcher for the Cyclones in game one of the series. Schurman had a solid outing, as she only gave up four hits and one earned run in the four innings she pitched.
Junior Jaiden Ralston entered the game in the fifth inning and was credited with the win (5-5) after closing it out.
Oklahoma State’s Ruby Meylan, who has been excellent this season, holding a record of 15-6, pitched a complete game for the Cowgirls. She threw 147 pitches in her appearance and struck out 14 batters, compared to the Cyclone bullpen’s combined three.
Freshman Jessie Clemons began her day with an RBI single in the top of the first inning that brought home junior Tatum Johnson. Clemons had a career day, as she went 4-for-4 with two runs, which proved pivotal in the Cyclones’ win.
Oklahoma State quickly tied up the game in the bottom of the first, when Rosie Davis brought the fans at Cowgirl Stadium alive with a deep home run to right field.
The game remained 1-1 until the top of the fourth inning. Following Clemons’ second hit of the day, junior Sydney Malott hit a home run to right field. After transferring from Illinois last year, Malott has been a crucial piece of the Cyclones’ offense. The homer was her sixth of the season and she wasn’t done yet.
The home run parade continued with a shot from Megan Bloodworth of the Cowgirls in the bottom of the fifth inning to make it 3-2 Cyclones.
Malott came back to the plate in the seventh looking to do some more damage. She got what she was looking for, as Malott took the ball for a ride on a full count for her second home run of the day.
However, Oklahoma State was not done just yet. Down 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the walls were closing in on the Cowgirls. With two outs and a full count, on a potential final pitch of the game, Davis brought in two runners with a single to tie the game up and force extra innings.
Ford was the hero of the day for Iowa State. With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the eighth inning, in a game against a blue-chip ranked conference opponent, the lights were about as bright as they could possibly be.
However, they were not too bright for Ford, who brought in Clemons on a single up the middle to make the game 5-4.
Ralston made quick work of Oklahoma State in the bottom of the inning to lock up a massive win for the Cyclones.
The teams will meet for a rematch at noon Saturday and again Sunday in Stillwater. The game will be live-streamed on ESPN+.
