Cyclones Rally Past Texas Tech, 7-5

LUBBOCK, Texas – Iowa State (21-24, 3-8 Big 12) secured its first Big 12 series win of the season with a 7-5 victory over Texas Tech (21-24, 1-13 Big 12) on Saturday. The Cyclones rallied from a 4-0 first-inning deficit to win their third-consecutive game.

Sophomore Sami Williams led the way offensively, going 3-of-4 at the plate with a home run, two RBIs and two runs. Nychole Antillon (2-of-4) and Logan Schaben (2-of-4) also hit home runs, as the team tied its season-high of three dingers in a game.

Iowa State 7, Texas Tech 5
The Cyclones found themselves in a 4-0 hole before recording their first out in the bottom of the first inning, highlighted by a three-run home run by Karli Hamilton. With two on and no outs, the first run of the game crossed home plate when Jessica Hartwell's RBI single fell fair down the left field line, scoring Heaven Burton. Hamilton then hit her three-run shot to left center, as Texas Tech took a 4-0 lead.

Iowa State battled back with a pair of runs in both the third and fourth innings to tie the game. Skyler Ramos notched a lead-off single to start the rally. Williams then put the Cyclones on the board, clubbing a two-run home run to right field. It was her team-leading 10^th home run of the season. Williams is the first Cyclone to hit 10 home runs in a season since Aly Cappaert in 2016 (11).

The fourth inning was more of the same, with Kaylee Bosworth picking up a one-out single before Logan Schaben tied the game with one swing of the bat. The sophomore from Portsmouth, Iowa, smashed a two-run home run to center field, knotting the game at 4-4.

Texas Tech bounced back to re-take the lead with an RBI single by Burton in the home half of the fourth, but the Cyclones kept churning out offense when they returned to the plate. Nychole Antillon launched her fifth home run of the season with a solo shot to left field in the top of the fifth, knotting the score at 5-5. Antillon's dinger was ISU's third of the game, tying a season high.

Williams and Sydney Stites kept the ISU momentum rolling in the top of the sixth with back-to-back base hits to lead off the inning. The Cyclones then took advantage of a TTU error to take their first lead of the day. On a fielder's choice, the second baseman dropped the ball while attempting to tag Stites out as she was en route to second base, allowing Williams to round third and score. Stites advanced to third on the play, while Sally Woolpert was safe at first.

Antillon then recorded an RBI on a ground ball to the shortstop, scoring Stites to extend the Iowa State advantage to 7-5. The Red Raiders put runners on the corners with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but Savannah Sanders, pitching in relief, snuffed out the TTU rally with pop fly in the infield, followed by a strikeout to end the game.

Brianna Weilbacher picked up the win, going 5.0 innings with four strikeouts. Sanders notched her second save of the season, giving up no runs on two hits with a strikeout in 2.0 innings.

On Deck
The series finale between Iowa State and Texas Tech is scheduled for Sunday at Rocky Johnson Field. The game begins at 12 p.m. and will be broadcast live on TexasTech.TV.

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Team Stats

Sami Williams

Nychole Antillon

Kaylee Bosworth

Logan Schaben

Players Mentioned

Nychole Antillon

Kaylee Bosworth

Aly Cappaert

Skyler Ramos

Savannah Sanders

Logan Schaben

Sydney Stites

Brianna Weilbacher

Sami Williams

Sally Woolpert

Players Mentioned

Nychole Antillon

Kaylee Bosworth

Aly Cappaert

Skyler Ramos

Savannah Sanders

Logan Schaben

Sydney Stites

Brianna Weilbacher

Sami Williams

Sally Woolpert

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