Cyclones Sweep Kansas In Home Finale

AMES, Iowa ? Iowa State celebrated Senior Day and the regular season finale with a sweep of Kansas on Saturday afternoon at the Southwest Athletics Complex. The Cyclones won the first game, 8-0, in five innings before holding off the Jayhawks, 3-2, in the second game. Senior hurler Alyssa Ransom picked up both wins and the six other seniors contributed 13 hits and eight RBI on the day.

The Cyclones improve to 24-39 overall and 3-15 in Big 12 play. The 24 wins surpasses their win total from a year ago. Kansas drops to 32-23-1 overall and 7-11 in conference play. The Cyclones and Jayhawks will meet in the first round of the Big 12 Championships on Thursday in Oklahoma City, Okla., with first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m.

In the first game, ISU jumped all over Kansas hurler Kassie Humphreys, scoring seven runs in the first two innings to cruise to the 8-0 win.

Senior centerfielder Fallon Johnson got things started with a leadoff walk. After Alex Johnson singled to center field, Fallon Johnson and pinch runner Kristy Olsen came around to score on a two-run single by senior Katie Reichling. Another senior, catcher Ashley Killeen, then came through with a two-run single of her own that plated Reichling and Courtney Wray to make it 4-0 Iowa State after one inning of play.

The Cyclones tacked on three more runs in the second inning on freshman Alex Johnson's double down the right field line that scored Kelsey Kidwell and Fallon Johnson. The hit made Johnson just the second player in school history to reach 60 hits in a season and gave her the freshman record with her 13^th double of the season.

Jessica Quade then joined in on the senior contributions with a run scoring groundout in the second and a single to score Reichling in the fourth to make the final margin, 8-0. The win was largest conference shutout since ISU beat Kansas 8-0 on May 2, 1999.

Iowa State secured its first Big 12 series sweep since 2003 against Baylor with a 3-2 win in the second game. The win also was head coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler's 200th as a head coach. Gemeinhardt-Cesler won 153 at Emporia State and has 47 in her first two seasons at ISU.

The Cyclones again took a quick lead on the visitors, jumping on top 1-0 on a run scoring single by Alex Johnson in the first inning. The hit scored Fallon Johnson, who beat out an infield single to lead off the game.

ISU added two more in the bottom of the fourth on run scoring singles by seniors Kristen Karanzias and Killeen.

The Jayhawks cut into the lead with two runs in the top of the fifth on a home run by Val Chapple and a single by Stevie Crisosto. The play of the game came with one-out and the bases loaded for the Jayhawks. Relief pitcher Charissa Carlin delivered a pitch and Elle Pottorf roped a line drive that was caught by Karanzias at third. Karanzias then dove to her right to tag out pinch runner Ally Stanton for the double play, ending the inning.

Carlin tossed 2.2 innings of hitless ball to pick up her second save and secure the sweep for the Cyclones.

Ransom (12-17) was outstanding for the Cyclones in the final home appearance of her career. The Round Rock, Texas native allowed two runs on seven hits in 9.1 innings of work to get both wins.

Four Cyclones collected three hits in the doubleheader. Alex Johnson finished 3-for-6 with three RBI on the day while Fallon Johnson, Reichling and Killeen each had three hits as well. Killeen, the school's all-time RBI leader, drove in three runs.

The Cyclones had six stolen bases on the day, including two from Fallon Johnson.

Iowa State 8, Kansas 0 (May 5, 2007 at Ames, Iowa) (Game 1)
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Kansas.............. 000 00 - 0 2 2 (32-22-1, 7-10 Big 12)
Iowa State.......... 430 1X - 8 11 0 (23-39, 2-15 Big 12)
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Pitchers: Kansas - Humphreys, Kassie; Vertelka, Sarah(2). Iowa State - Ransom, Alyssa.
Win-Ransom, Alyssa(11-17) Loss-Humphreys, Kassie(18-14) T-1:19 A-0

Iowa State 3, Kansas 2 (May 5, 2007 at Ames, Iowa) (Game 2)
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Kansas.............. 000 020 0 - 2 5 0 (32-23-1, 7-11 Big 12)
Iowa State.......... 100 200 X - 3 9 1 (24-39, 3-15 Big 12)
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Pitchers: Kansas - Vertelka, Sarah; George, Valerie(3). Iowa State - Ransom, Alyssa;
Carlin, Charissa(5).
Win-Ransom, Alyssa(12-17) Save-Carlin, Charissa(2) Loss-Vertelka, Sarah(5-5) T-1:37 A-283
HR KU - Chapple, Val (1).

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Players Mentioned

Charissa Carlin

Alex Johnson

Fallon Johnson

Fallon Johnson

Kristen Karanzias

Kristen Karanzias

Kelsey Kidwell

Ashley Killeen

Ashley Killeen

Kristy Olsen

Kristy Olsen

Jessica Quade

Jessica Quade

Alyssa Ransom

Alyssa Ransom

Katie Reichling

Katie Reichling

Courtney Wray

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