During Iowa State softball’s 14 game losing streak earlier in the season, coach Jamie Trachsel said hitting was the area they needed to improve the most.

Well whatever Trachsel did, improvement was evident Wednesday night at the Cyclone Sports Complex when Iowa State (19-32) rolled over in-state foe Northern Iowa (27-18) 15-4.

“We’ve been improving each weekend,” Trachsel said. “We drove the ball, got people on base and drove in our runs.”

The Iowa State bats were busy early and often as they scored a run in every inning before the contest was ended by run rule in the fifth inning.

In the bottom of the first, Sami Williams got things started in the first inning for the Cyclones with a hit in her first at-bat. Megan Schweitzer and Nychole Antillon both reached base on a fielder’s choice in their first at-bats.

Kelsey McFarland laced a double down the left field line to bring home Antillon for the game’s first run.

In the second inning, Kaila Konz got things rolling with a single up the middle. Second batter up, Kaylee Bosworth popped up for the first out of the inning.

Logan Schaben hit a single to right field, moving Konz to second base. Tayln Lewis moved both runners over with a bunt, loading the bases for the Cyclones. Williams came to the plate for her second at-bat of the game and reached on a fielder’s choice but Konz was thrown out at home plate.

The Cyclones did their damage with two outs and the bases loaded.

“We scored a lot of our runs with two outs which is something we’ve been working on,” Trachsel said.

Schweitzer put the ball in play and reached on a throwing error by the Panthers scoring Williams, Lewis and Schaben for the Cyclones. Next up, Antillon reached base for her second straight at-bat after drawing a walk.

McFarland hit a chopper to shortstop which caused another error by UNI and brought home Schweitzer to add to the Cyclones’ impressive inning. Kirsten Caudle singled in the next at-bat for Iowa State to bring home Antillon.

After going around the batting order, Konz came to the plate for her second time of the inning and hit a short RBI single to the pitcher to score McFarland.

The Cyclones scored two more runs in the inning when Bosworth singled up the middle to bring home Konz and Caudle. The Cyclones lead 9-0 after two innings.

“We were definitely feeding off each other,” Lewis said. “When the middle of our order gets hot we just keep going and it was nice to see everyone get on base today.”

Previously, it would be Iowa State that gave up big innings during a game. This time the Cyclones were on the other side of that.

“It’s relieving [to be on the other side of that],” Lewis said. “Those innings are downers on defense but it’s nice to turn it around and know we are capable of that.”

UNI found an answer in the top of the third with two runs of their own to cut the Iowa State lead to seven. Iowa State would gain one run back in the bottom half of the inning to take a 10-2 lead heading into the fourth inning.

The Panthers started clawing back into the game with two runs of their own in the top of the fourth inning to cut the Cyclone lead to six.

Iowa State  put the dagger in the Panthers’ comeback hopes in the bottom of the fourth inning. Pinch hitter Sally Woolpert hit a double to the right-center gap to bring home Konz and Caudle.

Lewis and Williams hit back-to-back home runs to make the score 15-4 in favor of the Cyclones.

Emma Hylen and the Cyclone defense held the Panthers scoreless in the top of the fifth, ending the game by run rule. Hylen has had the hot hand for Iowa State lately, making her third start at pitcher in four games for the Cyclones.

“I didn’t think [Hylen] through really well today but you’re not always going to have your best stuff,” Trachsel said. “But mentally you have to find a way to make your pitches just good enough. I think she has grown a lot mentally.”

Iowa State returns to the Cyclone Sports Complex Saturday, April 29, for a double header against Western Illinois beginning at noon.

“We are going to keep working and building off of this,” Trachsel said. “We’ll stay humble, stay classy and by no means are we satisfied with where we are at.”