AMES — The Iowa State softball team fell in game two of their home series against the No. 14 Arizona Wildcats 8-7. The defeat brings the Cyclones’ record down to 21-15 and 3-8 in the Big 12.

Stranded runners and a dominant pitching performance through six innings couldn’t hold up long enough for the Wildcats to hit their stride in the seventh inning.

The Cyclones will face off against No. 14 Arizona for the final game of the series at 1 p.m. Monday.

Timely hitting, but costly runners stranded

The Iowa State offense racked up 11 hits, while reaching base seven other times on five walks and two hit batters. With all these batters on, the Cyclones were only able to scratch across seven runs while stranding 12 runners on base. 

“We had an opportunity in the fifth and sixth to pull away,” head coach Jamie Pinkerton said. “We had bases loaded, nobody out and didn’t take it.”

Sophomore Karlee Ford’s 4-for-4 performance after going 0-for-4 in game one sparked the offense with her two-run homer in the fourth inning, along with senior Tatum Johnson’s two-run home run. 

“Yeah, no, the first game I felt like I was seeing the ball well, just hitting it right at them,” Ford said. “The second game, I just thought about shortening my swing and making better contact.”

Seniors Reagan Bartholomew and McKenna Andrews also recorded multiple-hit games.

“I think it just gives us a lot of confidence, especially after Tech,” Johnson said. “We know what we did wrong, and we know what we need to fix going forward.”

Schurman dominates early, setting the tone

Junior Lauren Schurman got the start in the circle, and after giving up an unearned run in the first and an RBI double in the second, she was dominating the Wildcats’ offense. 

For the next four innings, she faced just 13 hitters and allowed one hit, with three one-two-three innings in that span. 

“She’s been a stalwart for us,” Pinkerton said. “She’s done a really good job working ahead in counts and getting out of jams.”

She was dealing through six innings, and Pinkerton decided to leave her in the seventh inning, up five runs. 

The only issue was that Schurman was sitting at 96 pitches in the game and had already faced the lineup almost four times so far, after throwing the final three innings and 49 pitches in game one.

Seventh-inning collapse flips the game

The Wildcats were ready for her and ready to turn the game upside down for the Cyclones. 

Schurman would finish her last 36 pitches of the game, allowing six runs on five hits and one walk, while striking out two. 

Starting with a two-run homer cut the lead to two, followed by an RBI double and a two-RBI double to tie the game, ending Schurman’s night.

“Well, I mean, that’s our ace,” Pinkerton said. “We’re going to roll with her, win or lose and today it didn’t work out.”

Schurman’s unbelievable performance against a top-five offense in the Big 12 was undone late, finishing with a line of 6.2 innings pitched, allowing nine hits, seven earned runs, striking out four while walking two, facing 32 batters, while throwing 132 pitches and earning her fifth loss instead of her 12th win. 

Senior Jaiden Ralston came in to get the last out of the inning, but allowed the Wildcats to take the lead 8-7 on an RBI single with two strikes. 

“Being the catcher and watching everything unfold, the momentum was definitely with them,” Ford said.

The Cyclones had a chance to walk off Arizona after their seventh inning blunder, but fell short, stranding runners on first and second.

“Arizona’s a great hitting team,” Ford said. “If you let them back in the game, they’re going to come back like we saw today.”