AMES — The Cyclones entered the last inning of play up 7-2 against No. 14 Arizona and were in prime position to take a game off of the Wildcats, but a late rally by Arizona ended those hopes as Arizona plated six runs in the last inning and stole the second game of the doubleheader, winning 8-7 against Iowa State.
Iowa State had a chance to end the game early with a mercy rule or at least pull away with a chance for the eight-run mercy rule against the Wildcats.
“All we needed was three runs,” head coach Jamie Pinkerton said. “We had an opportunity in the fifth and sixth to pull away, and we had a chance to run rule them. We didn’t do it.”
The fifth inning that Pinkerton mentioned had seniors Tiana Poole leading off with a walk and McKenna Andrews immediately hitting a single to put runners on first and second base with no outs.
The Cyclones couldn’t convert, as a lineout and groundout gave senior Reagan Bartholomew the bat with two outs. Bartholomew walked to load the bases, sending up hot-hitting sophomore Kadence Shepherd.
“We have nothing to lose, so just go out there and swing it,” Shepherd said, who, prior to the game, had hit five home runs in five consecutive games.
Shepherd continued to swing the bat well, but hit a hard lineout to first base to end the inning.
The Cyclones were given another opportunity to put away Arizona in the sixth inning with a runner on first with one out, but were unable to build on any more of a rally and left the inning without scoring again.
They continued to struggle to put Arizona away until the end of the game, as the Cyclones led 7-2. A leadoff single by junior Tele Jennings and a two-run home run by sophomore Addison Duke cut the lead to only 7-4.
The nightmare continued for the Cyclones as right after the home run, the next two batters got on base before a one-out double by senior Tayler Biehl cut the lead to 7-5. Another double, this time by senior Grace Jenkins and the Wildcats tied the game 7-7.
“Arizona’s a great hitting team,” sophomore catcher Karlee Ford said. “If you let them come back in the game, they’re gonna come back.”
The Wildcats took an 8-7 lead thanks to a freshman Kez Lucas single, taking the lead and potentially stealing a victory away from the Cyclones.
The Cyclones wouldn’t go down without a fight, though, as with two outs, senior Tatum Johnson was hit by a pitch and Bartholomew hit a single right after to put a runner in scoring position.
But the two-out rally fell short, with the final out being from a former Cyclone, Sereniti Trice, to Arizona’s first baseman to end the game.
“Yeah, definitely a disappointing loss,” Ford said. “I know we can definitely feel that on the team side as well.”
