Cyclone Softball Falls to 1-1 at the Big 12 Tournament with Loss vs. Texas

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Iowa State softball team fell to 1-1 at the 2002 Big 12 softball tournament following a 8-0 loss Thursday night vs. No. 1 seed Texas. Iowa State defeated Missouri 1-0 earlier in the day to get into the opening round. Jen Bice made a return to the circle for ISU after missing the last several weeks of the season with an injury. She got tagged with the loss after allowing five runs to score on five hits in 1 2/3 innings of work. The loss drops ISU's overall record to 19-24 while Texas improves to 45-10.

Texas' Cat Osterman was dominated once again, as she held ISU scoreless on just one hit. Lindsey Herrin recorded the lone hit for Iowa State, opening the fifth with a double to center field. Osterman, the Big 12 freshman and pitcher of the year, finished with six strikeouts and zero walks to improve to 31-7 this year.

The Cyclones got behind early and where never able to get back into the game. Texas drove in three runs in the first and then added two more in the second to take a 5-0 advantage. The Longhorns then extend their lead to eight, pushing across three more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Iowa State was unable to notched a run in the top of the fifth, so the game was called after five innings of play.

The Cyclones will face elimination on Friday as they meet up with the No. 2 seed Oklahoma. The Sooners were upset 3-2 by Kansas, putting them in a must win game vs. ISU. The winner will advance on to play an 11 a.m. contest on Saturday vs either Kansas, Oklahoma State or Nebraska.