After a week off, the ISU softball team hit the dirt to take on Northern Iowa.

The Panthers struck first in the first inning as junior Caitlin Wnek was brought home by junior Kristin Lock. After that, the ISU bats lit up.

The Cyclones countered the Panthers one run by scoring two runs in the first. Iowa State scored by way of junior Brittany Gomez stealing home and senior Maddie Reese driving home sophomore Cathlin Bingham.

After a two-run inning, the Cyclones extended their lead by tacking on three more runs in the second to make the score 5-1. The Cyclones who scored in the second were Gomez and senior Jorden Spendlove, who was brought home by senior Lexi Slater and junior Aly Cappaert scoring on a wild pitch by UNI.

The scoring went cold in the third, but it heated up once again when the Cyclones scored three runs in the fourth to extend the lead to 8-1.

In the fifth, the Panthers cut the ISU lead to four on the strength of a three-run homerun to make the score 8-4. However, the Cyclones countered the Panthers three-run fifth inning with a four-run fifth inning.

The Cyclones to score in the fifth were senior Hayley Womack being brought home by Cappaert, Slater hitting home Gomez, Bingham being walked home and Cappaert being brought home by Antillon.

The Cyclones went on to beat the Panthers in five innings, by a final score of 12-4.

Iowa State takes the field April 3 at 6:30 p.m. at Oklahoma.