Iowa State Falls Short at No. 5 Oklahoma, 4-2

NORMAN, Okla. – Iowa State just missed out on knocking off No. 5 Oklahoma, falling to the Sooners 4-2 Friday night at the Marita Hynes Field. The loss dropped ISU to 19-12 overall and 0-1 in the Big 12. Oklahoma is now 30-5 overall and 4-0 in conference play.

Aly Cappaert led the Iowa State offense with a 2-run home rurn while Maddie Reese went 2-for-3 on the night.

Sooners Take Advantage of Wild Johnson
After ISU was retired in order, Katie Johnson went to work on trying to shut down the high-powered Oklahoma offense. Things did not get off to a smooth start, as walks were issued to Lauren Chamberlain and Shelby Pendley before Paige Parker got hit by a 3-2 pitch to load the bases with no outs. The next pitch hit Erin Miller and gave Oklahoma its 1-0 lead.

However, Johnson was able to settle down and get three outs in quick time, getting a fielder's choice, pop out and fly out to get ISU out of the jam only down one.

Iowa State Misses Chance
The Cyclones took a while to get anything going, as it was not until the top of the fourth ISU got a baserunner via single from Aly Cappaert off Paige Parker.

ISU made its move in the top of the fifth as Maddie Reese led off with a single to right-center. Two batters later, a Jorden Spendlove chopper back to the circle had too much English on it for Parker to secure, getting ISU a pair on with two outs. A Kelsey McFarland fielder's choice put runners on the corners for Sammie Hildreth. However, the Cyclone back-stop flew out to right to end the Iowa State threat.

Sooners Make Cyclones Pay
Parker drew a lead-off walk to start the OU half of the fifth inning. Two batters later, Kady Self sent a double down the left-field line that scored pinch runner Callie Parsons to make it 2-0 Oklahoma. The next batter was Nicole Pendley and she did the same as Self, knocking a double to bring a runner home from second to make it 3-0 Sooners.

Cappaert Brings ISU Back
Cathlin Bingham was the beneficiary of a fielding error by Shelby Pendley, reaching base to set the stage for Cappaert. ISU's designated player fired one off Parker to second that looked like it would eventually be caught by Nicole Pendley. However, to the joy of Cyclone dugout, the ball kept drifting and made it over the wall for her third home run of the season and it took the Sooners lead down to 3-2.

However, ISU would not be able to get any closer as OU added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on a bases loaded walk by Kady Self to reach the 4-2 final score.

On Deck
Iowa State closes out the series with the Sooners tomorrow with a doubleheader starting at noon.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cathlin Bingham

Aly Cappaert

Aly Cappaert

Sammie Hildreth

Katie Johnson

Katie Johnson

Kelsey McFarland

Maddie Reese

Maddie Reese

Jorden Spendlove

Jorden Spendlove

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics