The Cyclones returned for their first home games of the season. They received the Texas Longhorns.

After dropping their first game against the Longhorns that saw the Cyclones almost pull off a comeback, the Cyclones dropped their next two games.

The Cyclones came out for their first game in a double header, losing 8-0 in five innings.

The Iowa State offense was held down, as their first two hits of the game would come in the bottom of the fifth.

Nychole Antillon and Sally Woolpert accounted for the hits, and got in scoring position, but the Longhorns’ defense stopped the action.

In the second game, the Cyclones came in after a brief break with hopes to at least get a win and avoid the sweep. That did not happen and the Cyclones took a step back in the second game, losing 11-4.

And while the Cyclones looked to have the firing power to keep up with the Longhorns, the game got out of hand.

The Cyclones gave up a grand slam in the first inning of play, and the Longhorns never looked back.

“We’ve taken a step forward every weekend, but we didn’t protect the standard we’re trying to build. The way we played this weekend, it happens in softball, but we got in a mode where we accepted it, and I’m in a position where I’m not going to accept it,” said head coach Jamie Pinkerton.

The Cyclones accounted for four runs and 11 hits in the second game, so in total they accounted for four runs on 13 hits all afternoon.

“I know in each of all three games this series, we gave up at least four runs in the first inning, and we did that in Oklahoma State too, and that’s why we’re 1-5 right now,” Pinkerton said.

Woolpert came into the second game of the double header 1-of-2, on the second game alone she was 3-of-3 with a run scored and a two-run home run.

“I struggled yesterday and then when I came to hit today before games, I was talking to my coaches on what to adjust on the inside pitch,” said the junior first baseman for the Cyclones.

Her home run in the fourth inning helped the Cyclone offense get on the board after being scoreless the entire doubleheader.

Antillon also set a good performance as far as hitting goes, being able to get at least a single hit in every game against the Longhorns.

“I kinda had a different approach. My approach is being in the back of the box, on the line and just hit any pitch that’s over the plate,” Antillon said.

Antillon, playing in her last year for the Cyclones, had been with the team since her freshman year and oversaw the Cyclones defeat the Longhorns last year.

“I kind of just look to make something happen, like I’m not looking for a home run, a triple, I’m just looking to get on first base,” Antillon said.

The Cyclones were behind in the last four games, only being able to come back in one of them.

“I think when we come out hitting well, we just keep going,” Woolpert said.

The offense has been an issue for the Cyclones all season long, whether it is being able to drive players into home or get on the board as a whole.

Pinkerton stated that he and his coaching staff will go back and reevaluate the team this weekend.

“We’ll reevaluate, and it’s not all the [players], we got to reevaluate ourselves as a coaching staff. And I’ll use [myself] as an example, I’m a hitting coach, why is it the fourth inning before we start hitting?” Pinkerton said.

The Cyclones will be in Ames for their game against Drake on April 4, and then receive the defending national champions in Oklahoma on the weekend of April 6.