Panthers Head East to Valparaiso

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The Panthers, coming off of their first MVC series win, will look to extend their conference winning streak against Valparaiso this weekend.

The Panthers (18-14, 3-4) enter the series against the Crusaders (15-14, 3-5) with wins in their last two games, after losing five straight games previous to their two wins against the Missouri State Bears.

Valparaiso comes into the series after splitting two games against Southern Illinois last weekend. The Crusaders are in their first season as an MVC softball team, after playing in the Horizon League last year.

UNI has had five total matchups with Valparaiso in the past, with the Panthers owning a 5-0 all-time series advantage. The last time the two teams played was in 2012, when UNI hosted the Crusaders in the UNI-Dome Invitational. The Panthers won the game 6-0 and have outscored the Crusaders 38-5 in their five matchups.

Following the series against the Valparaiso Crusaders, UNI returns home to Cedar Falls, to face off against Iowa State. The Panthers will look to avoid poor weather while they go head-to-head against their intrastate foes.

NEED TO KNOW –

The Panthers are 5-0 against the Crusaders, and are 1-0 against them under head coach Ryan Jacobs.
Outfielder Brittney Roby is the team leader in batting average, runs, hits, doubles, and on-base percentage.
Sammey Bunch continues to pile up the RBIs for the Panthers offense, leading the team with 23 RBIs.
Brooke Craig, with a 9-5 record, is the UNI pitching leader in wins.
Freshman Emma Olejniczak, in her last three games, has pitched 7.2 innings without allowing an earned run.
Jaclyn Spencer picked up a win on Saturday, in a 2-1 win over the bears, marking her first pitching victory since March 4.
Catcher Ashley Chesser raised her batting average more than .100 points, after a week that saw her go 7-13 at the plate. Chesser also drove in four batters, more than doubling her RBI total for the season.

HOW TO WATCH –

All three games this weekend will be available as audio broadcasts, but there will be no television broadcasts this weekend.

LIVE STATS –

Live stats will be made available via the UNI athletics website (www.UNIPanthers.com). Fans and media can visit @UNISoftball on Twitter for links to the feed.

FUTURE PANTHER GAMES -

For more information on future Panther softball games, and to see their entire 2018 schedule, visit: http://bit.ly/2E0QlW5

SOCIAL MEDIA -

For the latest information on Panther Softball, follow @UNISoftball on Twitter, unisoftball on Instagram and @UNIPantherSoftball on Facebook

WEEKEND SCHEDULE –
Sat., April 7
2 p.m. CT UNI vs. Valparaiso

Sun., April 8
12 p.m. CT UNI vs. Valparaiso (DH)

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