Cyclones Rally in Seventh; Walk-Off Jayhawks 7-6

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State (23-18, 11-6 Big 12) claimed its fourth conference series of the season Friday afternoon, coming back to beat Kansas (18-22, 4-13 Big 12) by a score of 7-6 at the Cyclone Sports Complex.

After a solo blast in the first, Kansas strung together four consecutive scoring innings to take a three-run lead into the seventh frame. With its back against the wall, Iowa State delivered, rattling off four consecutive singles in the seventh to tie things up at six apiece. With the bases eventually loaded, Reagan Bartholomew sent a deep sac fly to left field to plate the winning run and walk-off the Jayhawks.

Three Cyclones notched two-hit outings, as Tatum Johnson, Jessie Clemons and McKenna Andrews led the way at the plate. Johnson also added a pair of RBI, tying her for the team lead with both Sydney Malott and Bartholomew.

In the circle, Sami Potvin made her second start of the Big 12 slate for the Cyclones, going one inning and allowing one run. Jaiden Ralston (8-6) and Lauren Schurman would combine to relieve Potvin.

Kansas was led by shortstop Hailey Cripe, who went 3-4 on the day with a pair of homers and a double, accounting for three RBI. Ava Wallace and Anna Soles also had multiple RBI as each accounted for two. Kennedy Diggs got the start, as she struck out three in 3.2 innings, before both Kaelee Washington and Lizzy Ludwig (3-6) took over.

How it Happened
Sami Potvin had little trouble with the first two Kansas batters to open the game, but the third, Hailey Cripe, sent a 1-0 pitch over the left field fence to put the Jayhawks on top in the first inning for the second straight game.

Iowa State responded in the bottom of the frame with some quality two-out hitting of its own. With two down, Johnson doubled to the left-center gap to give the Cyclones their first hit of the contest. Next up was Malott, who did what she's done for the last week – blast a home run. Malott's two-run shot was her fifth in the last six outings.

After a scoreless second, Kansas plated a game-tying run in the third frame. After a leadoff groundout, Cripe stepped back into the batter's box and cranked her second home run of the game to knot things up at two-all.

The Jayhawks got the Cyclones to go three-up, three-down in the bottom of the third before flipping things to the fourth and retaking the lead. With runners on second and third and just one out, Presley Limbaugh hit into a fielder's choice, scoring a third run and giving Kansas a 3-2 lead.

Johnson would lead off the bottom of the fourth with a four-pitch walk. A groundout would allow her to move over to second and place her in scoring position. With two outs, Bartholomew stepped into the batter's box and singled into left field, scoring Johnson from second and making the score 3-3.

Kansas again showed quality two-out hitting in the fifth, snatching the lead back. With the first two batters of the inning back in the dugout, Campbell Bagshaw doubled to right center. With Bagshaw on second, Ava Wallace pounced on a 3-1 pitch and took it over the right field fence to put the Jayhawks back up, 5-3.

ISU was unable to convert with runners on the corners in the fifth, and Kansas capitalized in the sixth, plating some insurance. Limbaugh led off with a walk and later advanced to second on a groundout. Cripe added to her already monstrous day with a double, plating Limbaugh and putting KU up, 6-3. The game briefly entered a substitution dispute and was eventually placed under protest by Iowa State.

The Cyclones got a leadoff single from Angelina Allen in the sixth, but nothing after that as they went to the seventh needing a rally.

ISU got the seventh started right, cutting down all three KU batters to take its final swings. McKenna Andrews started things off with a first pitch single through the right side before Sereniti Trice followed with her own single into right field, forcing a Kansas pitching change. Clemons stepped in with two on and drilled a ball all the way to the wall, scoring Andrews from second and pushing Trice to third as the game sat at 6-4 in favor of Kansas. Clemons would advance to second on a passed ball to put two in scoring position before Johnson ripped the team's fourth-straight single of the frame off the Kansas shortstop's outstretched glove on a dive to plate both runners and tie things up. An error would allow Sydney Malott to reach before Allen drew an eight-pitch walk to load the bases with no outs. Reagan Bartholomew stepped into the box and battled, facing 10 pitches before flying out deep to left for a sac fly and scoring Johnson to give ISU the walk-off win.

Friday Notes
Home Runs
Iowa State: Sydney Malott (10)
Kansas: Hailey Cripe 2(8), Ava Wallace (4)

WP – Jaiden Ralston (8-6): 4.0 IP, 2 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout
SV – N/A
LP – Lizzy Ludwig (3-6): 0.1 IP, 2 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts

On Deck
Iowa State and Kansas will meet in the series finale tomorrow, April 19, as the Cyclones will look to complete their second conference sweep of the season. Tomorrow's game is scheduled to begin at 1 pm and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+. As always, admission to the Cyclone Sports Complex is free.

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Team Stats

Jessie Clemons

Tatum Johnson

McKenna Andrews

Sereniti Trice

Players Mentioned

Angelina Allen

McKenna Andrews

Reagan Bartholomew

Jessie Clemons

Tatum Johnson

Sydney Malott

Sami Potvin

Jaiden Ralston

Lauren Schurman

Sereniti Trice

Players Mentioned

Angelina Allen

McKenna Andrews

Reagan Bartholomew

Jessie Clemons

Tatum Johnson

Sydney Malott

Sami Potvin

Jaiden Ralston

Lauren Schurman

Sereniti Trice

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