AMES — Iowa State beat Iowa 9-5 behind a huge rally in the bottom of the fourth inning Tuesday. The Cyclones scored six runs on six hits in the inning.
The win continues Iowa State head coach Jamie Pinkerton’s dominance against the Cyclones’ interstate rivals. He’s undefeated against Iowa in his time at Iowa State, but he downplayed the bad blood after the game.
“They’re ahead of us in RPI and they’re nine games above .500. When they leave here, I want them to win every game because that helps our RPI because we have a win against them,” Pinkerton said. “I think people think that I hate them. Anyone we play, once we beat them, I want them to win.”
When the Cyclones took the plate for the bottom of the fourth inning, they were behind 1-0 and Talia Tretton was in the circle for Iowa.
Senior Angelina Allen kicked off the inning with a walk and freshman Jessie Clemons followed it up by getting on base with a fielder’s choice. Allen was forced out at second. Junior Sydney Malott shot a double to right center field, which advanced Clemons to third.
Junior Reagan Bartholomew broke the inning open with a double down the left field line that barely stayed fair. Clemons and Malott scored to give the Cyclones the lead. After reviewing the play to make sure it was indeed fair, the call stood.
Bartholomew, a native of Waukee, Iowa, transferred in this year from Miami (OH). The Iowa native had a strong performance in her first Cy-Hawk appearance, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
“I’ve been a part of the Cy-Hawk rivalry my entire life, so to play in it is a new, exciting thing,” Bartholomew said. “To get the win is even better.”
Freshman Karlee Ford followed up the double with a hit of her own, advancing to second on the throw.
After a pop-out, sophomore Isabelle Nosan stepped in the batter’s box to pinch hit with two outs and runners on second and third. Nosan has made an impact this season in limited appearances and on Tuesday, she broke out. She crushed a two-RBI double off the wall to bring home Bartholomew and Ford and extend the lead to 4-1.
“I was like, ‘I want to score these runs’ and that’s all I was trying to do,” Nosan said. “I try to keep it simple when I’m pinch hitting.”
After the hit, freshman Sereniti Trice kept the momentum going with a single up the middle and junior Tatum Johnson was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Allen took her second walk of the inning to bring home Nosan and score the Cyclones’ fifth run of the inning.
It appeared that the wheels were beginning to fall off for Tretton in the circle, so Iowa decided to make a pitching change. Haley Downe entered the game for the Hawkeyes.
Clemons drove in Trice with an RBI single to third base and Malott lined out to finally end the inning.
When all was said and done, the game was 6-1, and the Cyclones finished the inning with six hits and three runners left stranded.
Iowa made an effort to come back in the fifth inning with a five-run rally, but Iowa State slammed the door with three more runs in the bottom of the sixth, securing the 9-5 win.
Although it was a Cyclone state today, the interstate rivals will meet for a rematch in Iowa City on April 29.
Iowa State will return to action this weekend for a three-game series at the Cyclone Sports Complex against Big 12 rivals Kansas, beginning at 4 p.m. Thursday.
