The ISU softball team went 1-1 Friday, as they started their five game series in the San Diego Classic. The Cyclones played two of their five today against UC-Davis and North Dakota.

The ISU softball team couldn’t get their offense going in a tight game versus UC-Davis, where they lost 1-0. Neither team could really get the offense going, but the Aggies struck first, and rode out the Cyclones for the win.

The Aggies scored their only run early on a Cyclone error in second. The Cyclones never got into a rhythm, going a combined 6-25 at the plate, with Maddie Reese leading the team going 2-3. The Aggies only went 3-18, but the few hits proved to be enough for the win.

The Cyclones couldn’t capitalize on the necessary situations they needed to score runs, stranding five runners on the bases.

ISU pitcher Katie Johnson dropped her record to 6-2 on the season, even though she had a solid outing. Johnson went 6 innings and only allowed 3 hits, but couldn’t get enough run support to pull out the win.

Aggie pitcher Leah Munden was instrumental in stifling the Cyclones, with a complete game shutout. Munden only allowed 6 hits while striking out four Cyclone batters

The Cyclones bounced back against North Dakota, sneaking out a 3-2 win late in the game.

The Fighting Sioux came strong out of the gate, and opened with Taylor Donnelly scoring on an error. The early action was the only scoring until the fifth inning, when Donnelly was driven in by Megan Keagan on a single.

The Cyclones bounced back in the fifth, after four straight scoreless innings. The run was sparked by Lexi Slater single to start the inning. She advanced to second when Rachel Hartman was hit by a pitch. Kaila Konz pinch ran for Hartman, and both Konz and Slater advanced on a wild pitch. Slater was driven in by Jordan Spendlove, to cut the Fighting Sioux lead to 2-1. Konz would be brought in by Brittany Gomez later in the inning to even the score 2-2.

The hero of the game was Maddie Reese, who went 1-3 and hit the game winning homerun in the sixth inning to give the Cyclones the 3-2 win.

The ISU softball team will play again in day two of the San Diego Classic, with a double header on Saturday. The Cyclones will take on Cal-Poly at 4:00 p.m., and then move on to San Diego State at 6:00 p.m.