AMES — After Kansas jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, Iowa State threatened to respond in the bottom half but came up empty. The Cyclones had another chance in the third inning, and this time they delivered.
Junior McKenna Andrews led off the inning with a walk, and freshmen Sereniti Trice and Jessie Clemons followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases with no outs. Junior Tatum Johnson stepped into the box with a chance to change the game.
“I just knew that, like, once one, two, three got on with no outs, I had to do something for my team,” Johnson said. “All I was looking for was the sacrifice fly or something like that—but it was a home run, so I couldn’t be happier about it.”
Johnson didn’t miss her pitch and sent a first-pitch offering over the left-center wall for a grand slam. It was the first home grand slam of the season for Iowa State. Johnson finished the game 3-for-3 with four RBIs, which raised her batting average to .372.
“I’m just happy for our team. Everyone had a good day,” Johnson said. “Our pitching staff, Lauren [Schurman], Jaiden [Ralston]—everyone did what they were supposed to do.”
The Cyclones collected seven hits during the game with six coming from the top three hitters, Iowa State set a season low with only one strikeout after 27 batters took to the plate.
That four-run swing proved to be the difference, as Iowa State’s pitching staff shut down the Jayhawks for the rest of the game. The Cyclones secured their 10th Big 12 victory of the season with a 4-2 win and improved to 22-18 overall and 10-6 in conference play.
The victory also marked Iowa State head coach Jamie Pinkerton’s 200th win as the Iowa State softball coach. He credited the achievement to his players and not himself.
“I’m just lucky to have teams that go out a win, we got young women here that put me in the position to complete such a big accomplishment,” Pinkerton said.
Pinkerton praised his team’s approach and in-game adjustments against Kansas starter Olivia Bruno, who came in with a reputation for effective off-speed pitching. Bruno threw a complete game, facing 27 batters and allowing seven hits, four runs, walking three and only striking out one on 113 pitches.
“We knew Bruno changes speeds well,” Pinkerton said. “Dahle for BYU gave us fits, and we’ve been working on that. I think we did a better job of attacking the count when we had the hearts of the plate and made the adjustment after the first time through. We backed off the plate a little, which helped us get more barrels on it instead of getting jammed.”
The Cyclones will look to continue their strong play at 4 p.m. Friday from the Cyclone Sports Complex in game two of the three-game series against the Jayhawks.
