Killeen Homer Seals Iowa State Shutout Victory over Drake

AMES, Iowa ? Sophomore Ashley Killeen hit a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to help lead Iowa State to a 2-0 victory over visiting Drake Thursday at the Southwest Athletic Complex. It was ISU's third consecutive win overall and its fourth in a row over Drake. The win gives the Cyclones a 3-0 record at home for the first time since the 2000 season. With the victory, ISU's record improves to 12-15 overall.

Both teams were playing solid defense early on as the game was scoreless through the first two innings. After having just one hit in the first two innings, ISU found its bats in the bottom of the third when senior Kim Rodgers hit her fourth triple of the season. Killeen was up next and hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Rodgers. Sophomore Jessica Quade popped up to right field to end the third inning with ISU up 1-0.

The Cyclones put the icing on the win in the bottom of the sixth inning when Killeen hit Drake pitcher Kristin Birocci's first pitch of the inning over the right field wall for her second home run of the season. Quade hit a single to first base after that, but one sacrifice fly and two ground outs ended the inning with Drake having one more chance.

The Bulldogs tried to rally in the top of the seventh but it wasn't enough as the Cyclones claimed their fifth shutout win of the season.

“Any win for us now is a good win and this was definitely a good win,” head coach Ruth Crowe said. “I am pretty happy with today. I thought we got some good momentum going to continue on with our Big 12 season this weekend. I though Kim Rodgers and Ashley Killeen hit very well today.”

Sophomore Katie Reichling upped her record on the mound to 6-5 and fanned two Drake batters. Sophomore Alyssa Ransom came in to relieve Reichling in the bottom of the second and picked up her third save of the year.

“I thought Katie Reichling pitched extremely well today,” Crowe said. “Both of our pitchers really compliment each other so one can just go in and take over when the other one goes out.”

Iowa State continues with the home portion of their schedule this weekend when it plays host to Big 12 conference foe Texas Tech. Saturday's game begins at 2 p.m. and Sunday's contest will start at noon.