The Iowa State softball team split its games on Sunday at the Louisiana Classic in Lafayette, Louisiana, ending the tournament with a 2-3 finish.

Iowa State (2-3)  opened up the final day of the tournament with a 7-4 win over Ball State (1-4). In a rematch from Saturday, the Cyclones fell to DePaul (2-3) by a score of 3-1.

The tournament did not end in Iowa State’s favor as their final game was called two and a half innings early. The decision was made to accommodate DePaul’s travel plans.  

Game One – Ball State 

In game one of the day, Iowa State captured its second straight victory. Sophomore Emma Hylen started at pitcher for the Cyclones against Ball State.

The Iowa State bats got to work right away in the first inning but the Cyclones were unable to score with the bases loaded.

After two scoreless innings, Iowa State struck first in the top of the third inning. Kelsey McFarland hit an RBI double into left field to score pinch runner Megan Schweitzer to put the first run on the scoreboard. Talyn Lewis would add another run with an RBI single of her own with the bases loaded to bring home McFarland. Jaiden Johnson joined in the fun, hitting an RBI single to left field. Lewis and Sami Williams came home on a Ball State error to give Iowa State a 5-0 lead.

McFarland continued her impressive tournament in the top of the sixth inning, blasting a solo home run to right center field.

In the bottom of the inning, Savannah Sanders entered the game to relieve Hylen at pitcher for the Cyclones. Hylen gave up no runs on three hits in five innings.

Ball State finally broke through the Iowa State defense, scoring four runs in the inning.

The Cyclones would add one more run in the seventh inning from a Kaila Konz RBI double to score Logan Schaben.

Iowa State didn’t allow any runs in the bottom of the inning to clinch the 7-4 victory over the Cardinals.

Game Two – DePaul

In game two, Iowa State got another opportunity to take on DePaul. Sanders got the start at pitcher for the Cyclones in the final game of the tournament.

In the top of the first inning McFarland picked up where she left off, hitting an RBI double to send home Konz and open up the scoring.

The game would remain 1-0 in favor of the Cyclones until the bottom of the fourth when Megan Leyva hit a three-run home run for DePaul to take the lead.

The home run came at just the right time for the Blue Demons. The game was ended in the middle of the fifth inning due to DePaul’s travel plans.

Iowa State fell in the shortened game by a score of 3-1. 

The Cyclones will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 17 at 10:30 a.m. against Tennessee State. It will be the first of five games Iowa State will play throughout the weekend in the Tennessee State Tournament.