MT. PLEASANT, S.C. ? Iowa state earned its first win of the season, a 2-0 victory over Winthrop at the College of Charleston Cougar Classic on Saturday night. The Cyclone triumph avenged a 4-3 loss to the Eagles earlier in the day. ISU also dropped a 2-1 decision to the host Cougars. Iowa State is now 1-7 on the season.
The Cyclones saved their best game for the last contest of the day as they held Winthrop to just three hits while hitting the Eagle pitching for six hits and two runs. The two teams held a scoreless tie until the top of the fifth inning when sophomore Jennifer Bigbee hit a single that advanced sophomore Katie Reichling to second base and senior Misty Kimura across the plate for the score. The score would remain 1-0 until the top of the seventh inning when sophomore Jessica Quade hit a single to the short stop and advanced to second when the Winthrop short stop overthrew the first baseman. Senior Diana Reuter scored on the overthrow to give the Cyclones their second run of the game. The Cyclone defense held in the bottom of the seventh and ISU won the game, 2-0. Sophomores Alyssa Ransom and Katie Reichling split time on the pitching mound and combined to strike out four Winthrop batters. Reichling picked up the win. Reuter had two hits and Quade, Kimura, Reichling and Bigbee all recorded hits against Winthrop.
The Cyclones played Winthrop earlier in the day and lost a close 4-3 game. ISU scored right away in the first inning when Kimura hit her second double of the year sending senior Kim Rodgers, who was on second base, across the plate. The Cyclones added another run in the top of the second when Bigbee was sent home when Rodgers hit a sacrifice bunt and was out at first base. Iowa State had a 2-0 lead going into the fourth inning when Winthrop got on the scoreboard off a single. The Cyclones added another run when freshman Stephanie Mosley scored her first run off the season off a Cary Akins single. The Eagles scored three more runs in the top of the fifth inning that proved to be the difference in the Eagles 4-3 win. Ransom and Reichling again split time on the mound, with Reichling picking up her second loss of the season. ISU had a season-high eight hits in the game, with Kimura and Akins accounting for five of them. Bigbee and Quade had the other two.
Against host College of Charleston, the Cyclones held a 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the seventh, but they had two costly errors that College of Charleston capitalized on and scored two runs for the win. Bigbee scored ISU's lone run. Ransom recorded the loss for the Cyclones. Sophomore Ashley Killeen led the way for ISU with two hits, while Rodgers and Reichling each had a hit.
ISU will play Virginia Tech again on Sunday, starting at 8 a.m. The Hokies had the best record in the tournament and will be the number one seed on Sunday. The Cyclones are the No. 5 seed.
