Homers Propel Northern Iowa Past Cyclones, 6-4

AMES, Iowa. ? Northern Iowa hit three homers, accounting for all its runs, en route to a 6-4 win over Iowa State Wednesday at the Southwest Athletic Complex. With the loss Iowa State drops to 17-16 on the season.

The Panthers (20-8) were led by Jen Larsen, who finished with a home run and three runs batted in. Larsen (10-4) also picked up her 10th win of the season in the circle, allowing four runs on 10 hits in the complete game effort.

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Final Stats

Rachel Zabriskie (10-11) went the distance for the Cyclones, whose pitching staff is battling injuries. Three ISU pitchers were unavailable due to injury leaving Zabriskie as the only option in the circle against the Panthers..

“We're asking her to do a lot and I have every bit of confidence in her that she's going to figure it out,” said ISU head coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler. “She's a good pitcher and she'll work through it.”

Zabriskie was hurt by three UNI homers but didn't give up much else. The Panthers had six of their 12 hits in a four-run fifth inning.

Northern Iowa jumped on top first as Kelly Papesh notched her eighth home run of the season in the third inning. Papesh's shot scored Brittney Balduf, who singled to lead off the inning.

Iowa State quickly answered as Heidi Kidwell scored on a UNI throwing error in the bottom half of the inning.

The Panthers belted two more homers in the fifth inning to go up 6-1. Larsen hit a three-run shot and Rachel Gerking lifted a solo shot over the right field wall in the inning.

Iowa State rallied for three unanswered runs, two in the sixth and one in the seventh, but Larsen was able to close the door on the ISU rally, getting Carrie Monroe to ground out and end the game.

Sydni Jones provided the offensive spark for the Cyclones, connecting on her fourth homer of the season to lead off the sixth inning and doubling in the seventh. Heidi Kidwell, who finished 2-for-3 in her home debut, drove in a run in the sixth and Amanda Bradberry had a run-scoring hit in the seventh.

“When they scored four, we kind of sat around for a little bit and didn't react as quickly and we ran out of time.”

Iowa State will be back in action this weekend as it plays host Texas Tech for a pair of games at 2 p.m. Saturday and at noon Sunday.

Northern Iowa 6, Iowa State 4 (3-25-09 at Ames, Iowa)
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Northern Iowa....... 002 040 0 - 6 12 3 (20-8)
Iowa State.......... 001 002 1 - 4 10 0 (17-16)
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Pitchers: Northern Iowa - Larsen, Jen. Iowa State - Zabriskie, Rachel.
Win-Larsen, Jen(10-4) Loss-Zabriskie, Rachel(10-11) T-2:00 A-257
HR UNI - Larsen, Jen (4); Gerking, Rachel (4); Papesh, Kelly (8).
HR IS - Jones, Sydni (4).

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Players Mentioned

Amanda Bradberry

Amanda Bradberry

Sydni Jones

Sydni Jones

Heidi Kidwell

Carrie Monroe

Carrie Monroe

Rachel Zabriskie

Rachel Zabriskie

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