ISU Softball Defeats Utah; Loses to No. 2 Arizona in Fiesta Bowl Tournament

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Iowa State softball team defeated Utah, 6-5, Friday evening in the team's second game of the Fiesta Bowl Tournament. The win evened ISU's record at 1-1 after it dropped an earlier Friday contest vs. No. 23 Oregon State. Senior Erica Martinez was the winning pitcher and also had two RBI.

The Cyclones were down early, 3-0, when they scored two runs in the third inning to begin the comeback. ISU scored two more runs in the seventh inning to tie the score at 4-4. The Cyclones hit the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning on an error by Utah's third basemen to take a 6-5 win. They tallied eight hits in the game.

"I was very proud of how our kids played against Utah," Head Coach Ruth Crowe said. "The kids showed a lot of character in coming from behind and played really well down the stretch."

Iowa State lost to No. 2 Arizona, 11-2, in it's first game in Saturday's session at Arizona State's Rose Mofford Sports Complex. The loss dropped ISU's record to 1-2 on the season. The Cyclones had a 2-1 lead going into the second inning, until the Wildcats tied the game at 2-2. ISU wouldn't score again while Arizona scored nine more runs on 14 hits to win the game, 11-2. The Cyclones had two runs on nine hits. Freshman Kristen Karanzias was the Cyclone pitcher.

Iowa State will take on No. 13 Arizona State in Saturday night's evening session starting at 5:30 p.m.