Cyclones Fall to No. 10 Missouri, 12-6

AMES, Iowa ? Despite tying a season-high with three home runs on the day, the Iowa State softball team conceded three home runs to No. 10 Missouri, falling 12-6 Wednesday afternoon at the Southwest Athletic Complex. The Cyclones fall to 25-24 on the season and 3-10 in Big 12 play.

The Tigers (37-9, 7-6 Big 12) didn't waste time getting on the scoreboard with the Rhea Taylor leading off a game with a home run over the left centerfield wall to make it 1-0.

Cyclone pitcher Rachel Zabriskie made history in the next at bat as her strikeout of Catherine Lee gave her the 234th strikeout of the season, breaking the previous record set by Suzanne Wedemeier in 1982. Zabriskie finished out the inning with a strikeout of Marla Schweisberger, the 600th of her ISU career.

Courtney Wray started the bottom of the second off with a line drive single to right to give ISU its first base runner of the game. After Sydni Jones struck out looking and an Alex Johnson fly out, Heidi Kidwell continued the inning with an infield single. After a passed ball by MU pitcher Jana Hainey that allowed the runners to advance, Carrie Monroe drove home her first runs in conference play with a single to right-centerfield to score Wray and Kidwell and give the Cyclones a 2-1 lead.

Kelsey Kidwell provided the first Iowa State hit in the bottom of the third with a one-out bunt single. Erica Miller took advantage of the situation sending a home run well over the right field wall to increase the ISU lead to 4-1.

Missouri fought back in the top frame of the fourth. Singles by Ashley Fleming and Schweisberger started out the inning for the Tigers. After striking out Nicole Hudson, ISU had a passed ball to allow both runners to be in scoring position. Gina Schneider drove a run with an infield single to make the score 4-2 with runners on the corner and one out. Zabriskie rallied to finish the inning, striking out Lisa Simmons and Michaele Vock.

Monroe put down a two-out single in the bottom of the fourth, giving the junior her second multi-hit game of the season. The inning ended in the next at bat as a bunt attempt by Amanda Bradberry was caught on a diving effort by the Tiger backstop Lee.

Lauren Kennewell came in relief for the Cyclones in the fifth. After getting Taylor to ground out, Kennewell walked Lee and conceded a double to Jenna Marston to put runners on second and third with one out. Fleming brought home both runners with a single that saw her advance to second and tie the game back up at 4-4.

After walking the leadoff batter in the top of the six, Kennewell was pulled and Tori Torrescano stepped on the mount. The freshman recorded the first out on a pop out by Lisa Simmons but saw runner Abby Vock advance to third on a passed ball and a wild pitch. That allowed for pinch hitter Ashlie Ortega to lift a sacrifice fly to left field, allowing Vock to score and giving Missouri a 5-4 lead.

Iowa State struck back in the bottom of the sixth as Wray led off the frame with a home run just over the right field wall to knot the game up at 5-5. After Jones struck out, it was Johnson who gave the Cyclones the lead back with a high home run over the left field wall, pushing ISU back in front 6-5.

The Tigers put up one last stand in the seventh. After a Lindsey Muller grounder, Jenna Marston had a double off the wall and was then drove home on a Fleming double to knot the game at 6-6. MU retook the lead with the next batter as Schweisberger sent a home run well over the right-center field wall to give the visitors an 8-6 advantage.

An error by Kelsey Kidwell and two Torrescano walks saw the bases loaded with two down. ISU elected to bring back in its starting pitcher Zabriskie to finish out the inning. The Tigers had other ideas as Taylor sent her second home run of the day to drive in four runs and increase the lead to 12-6.

Toreescano picks up the loss for Iowa State to drop to 4-6 on the season. The freshman pitched 1.2 innings, conceding four hits, six runs (three earned) and two walks.

Kristin Nottelmann picked up the win for Missouri to improve to 14-6 on the season. Nottelmann pitched three innings in relief, giving up four hits and two runs, walking one and striking out one.

Game two of the doubleheader begins at 4:30 p.m.

Missouri 12, Iowa State 6 (4-28-2010 at Ames, Iowa)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Missouri........... 100 121 7 - 12 11 0 (37-9, 7-6 Big 12)
Iowa State.......... 022 000 0 - 6 10 2 (25-24, 3-10 Big 12)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Missouri ? Hainey, Jana, Nottlemann, Kristin(5) and Lee, Catherine. Iowa State ? Zabriskie, Rachel, Kennewell, Lauren (5), Torrescano, Tori (6), Zabriskie, Rachel (7) and Johnson, Alex.
Win-Nottelmann, Kristin (14-6) Loss-Torrescano, Tori (4-6) T-2:08 A-249
HR: MU ? Taylor, Rhea (6, 7), Schweisberger, Marla (8). ISU ? Miller, Erica (5), Wray, Courtney (3), Johnson, Alex (6).

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Amanda Bradberry

Amanda Bradberry

Alex Johnson

Alex Johnson

Sydni Jones

Sydni Jones

Lauren Kennewell

Lauren Kennewell

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