Late Home Run Pushes Drake Past Panthers 11-10

Sunday, April 6

Cedar Falls, Iowa

12:00 PM

University of Northern Iowa

Drake University

Late Home Run Pushes Drake Past Panthers 11-10

4/6/2008 8:00:00 AM | Softball

By: UNI Athletics Communications

April 6, 2008

Box Score

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Drake's Jenna DeLong hit a two run home run in the top of the seventh to push the Bulldogs past the University of Northern Iowa softball team Sunday afternoon. UNI held a 6-0 lead heading into the third frame, but Drake plated five runs in the third inning to close the gap at 6-5. UNI responded by pushing four runs across in the bottom of the fourth, but couldn't connect in the final three innings while Drake drove in five runs in the final three frames to take the 11-10 win.

UNI's bats were hot from the start today as Stephanie Aguero (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) connected for her second homer of the weekend, this time a two-RBI bomb to right field, which put the Panthers on the board 2-0.

The Panthers used four hits to plate four runs in the bottom of the second to build a 6-0 lead on the Bulldogs. Kelly Papesh (Minooka, Ill./Minooka) opened the inning with a single to left field, followed by a Brittany Ruzicka (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Jefferson) single to right field. Megan Machovec (DeWitt, Iowa/Central) drove in the Panthers next two runs on a double to left field. Aguero then drilled a two-RBI single through the ride side that put the Panthers up 6-0.

Continuing with the weekend trend of home runs, Drake used back-to-back home runs to help plate five runs. Erin Mollohan blasted a three-run homer, followed by Elena Leon's solo round-tripper.

UNI responded, plating four more runs, including a RBI single by Aguero and a two-RBI double by Jen Larsen (Moline, Ill./Moline). Larsen plated the final run of the inning on an error by Drake's second baseman, giving UNI the 10-5 lead.

That would be all the runs the Panthers would push across, while Drake managed to plate runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh frames, including a two-run homer in the top of the seventh to take the lead 11-10.

Drake's Jenna Delong struck out two batters in the bottom of the seventh, along with a ground out to third base that ended the Panthers hopes of a comeback.

The top of the order performed well for the Panthers as lead-off hitter Machovec finished the day three-for-three at the plate, including one double and two RBIs. In the two spot, Aguero went three-for-four, with one home run and five RBIs.

Drake's Delong took the win for the Bulldogs, tossing three-and-two-thirds innings and retiring seven batters. Liz Adams (Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar) took the loss for the Panthers.

UNI (14-20, 2-9 MVC) returns to action Wednesday when they travel to Madison, Wisc. to take on Wisconsin. The game is set to begin at 5 p.m.

NOTES:

In the three-game series both teams connected for 14 homeruns, with Drake blasting 11 and UNI drilling three.

Both teams combined for 25 hits in Sunday's contest, while Saturday's doubleheader registered 36 hits between the teams.