Cyclones Upend Iowa, 7-3, In Home Opener

AMES, Iowa - Iowa State scored three runs in the first inning and never looked back en route to a 7-3 win over Iowa Wednesday. The home opener for the Cyclones was played in front of a capacity crowd of 532 at the Southwest Athletic Complex. The Cyclones, who have won back-to-back contests against the Hawkeyes for the first time since 1990, improve to 22-13 this season.

"It was a great way to open our home season in front of an awesome crowd," Iowa State head coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. "We did a good job offensively and were aggressive at the plate. Today was a total team effort and we know that is what it takes to be successful."

The Cyclones chased Iowa starter Amanda Zust with three runs on three hits in the first inning.

Heidi Kidwell opened the inning with a single and advanced to second on a passed ball. After a Bianca Lopez sacrifice bunt moved Heidi Kidwell to third and Courtney Wray walked, Alex Johnson ripped a single to centerfield that scored the game's first run.

Erica Miller then delivered a two-run double to right field to make it 3-0 and force the Hawkeyes (16-13-1) into a pitching change. In the Cyclones' 8-2 win over Iowa in February, Miller delivered a three-run first inning homer to give ISU the early lead.

The Hawkeyes earned a run back in the fourth on a leadoff homer by Liz Watkins, the first of two solo homers for the sophomore in the game.

Iowa threatened again in the fifth, putting the leadoff runner on base when Katie Keim singled. Johnson threw pinch runner Ashley Akers out by a couple steps to stop the attempted steal.

Iowa State responded in the fifth inning with three more runs to go up 6-1. The Cyclones took advantage of three Iowa errors to get the insurance runs.

Kelsey Kidwell, Carrie Monroe and Tori Torrescano each drove in a run in the inning.

After Watkins' second homer of the game in the sixth, ISU pushed the lead back up to four runs on Alex Johnson's single and an error by Iowa right fielder Taylor Leichsenring. Wray, who hit a one-out double scored on the play for Iowa State.

Rachel Zabriskie (18-7) did the rest for Iowa State, giving up three runs on five hits and striking out five to beat the Hawkeyes, who had won four in a row entering Wednesday.

Zust (9-6) took the loss, giving up four runs on six hits. Zust re-entered the game in the fifth inning and allowed an unearned run.

Heidi Kidwell led the Iowa State hit barrage going 3-for-4. The sophomore, who has hit safely in eight straight games, is hitting .380 this season.

Johnson and Wray each had two hits in the game as the Cyclones won for the ninth time in 10 games.

Iowa State, which has wrapped up the 2009-10 Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk Series, increased its lead to 16-11 with the two points gained today.

Iowa State will be back in action Friday at 3 p.m. when it hosts No. 13 Oklahoma.

Iowa State 7, Iowa 3 (3-31-2010 at Ames, Iowa)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Iowa................ 001 101 0 - 3 5 4 (16-13-1)
Iowa State.......... 300 031 X - 7 11 1 (22-13)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Iowa - Zust, Amanda; Lyon, Chelsea(3) and Watkins, Liz. Iowa State - Zabriskie, Rachel
and Johnson, Alex.
Win-Zabriskie, Rachel(18-7) Loss-Zust, Amanda(9-6) T-1:53 A-532
HR IOWA - Watkins, Liz 2 (5)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alex Johnson

Alex Johnson

Heidi Kidwell

Heidi Kidwell

Kelsey Kidwell

Kelsey Kidwell

Erica Miller

Carrie Monroe

Carrie Monroe

Tori Torrescano

Courtney Wray

Courtney Wray

Rachel Zabriskie

Rachel Zabriskie

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics