Panthers Travel to SIU for Final Regular Season Series

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The Panthers (25-23, 10-12) travel to Carbondale, Illinois to square off with the Southern Illinois Salukis (27-20, 10-11).

First pitch for Saturday's doubleheader is set for 12:00 p.m. Saturday's first pitch time is 11:00 a.m. The Panthers look to continue recent success in conference play as MVC Tournament play begins.

PANTHERS HEADLINES –

The Panthers (25-23, 10-12) head to Carbondale, Illinois as they face off against Southern Illinois (27-20, 10-11) to close out their regular season schedule.
The Panthers were (7-9) in April games this season. Last year, UNI was (14-5) in April matchups.
The Salukis come in on a three-game winning streak, after sweeping the Evansville Purple Aces in their last series.
Northern Iowa has a 37-73 all-time record against Southern Illinois. The Panthers' last victory against the Salukis came in 2017, in a 5-2 home win. UNI took the series in 2017, winning two out of three games.
Under head coach Ryan Jacobs, the Panthers are 11-15 against the Salukis.
The Panthers lost a thriller to Southern Illinois to close the season in 2017, losing 4-3 in the MVC Tournament Championship.
After struggling to find the long ball for a majority of the season, the Panthers have driven five balls over the fence in their last two weekend series. Five of 17 home runs for UNI have come in the last seven games.
Following this weekend's series against Southern Illinois, the Panthers will have a chance to play in the MVC tournament in Des Moines, Iowa.
Olivia Brooks has been making the most out of her recent starting appearances. The sophomore outfielder has 14 hits in her last 25 at-bats and has also scored seven runs and tacked on an RBI in her last three series.
Brittney Roby continues to be the energizer for the UNI offense out of the leadoff spot. Roby is first, or tied for first, for the Panthers' primary starters in batting avg. (.395), runs (28), hits (66) and stolen bases (11). Roby was named Second-Team all-MVC as a first-year transfer in 2017. The senior outfielder has also been named MVC Player of the Week once this season.
Sammey Bunch, the reigning MVC Freshman of the Year, has overcome the sophomore slump in 2018. The UNI shortstop leads the team in extra-base hits (17), home runs (5), RBI (31) and slugging percentage (.540). Bunch is one of two Panthers this season to be named MVC Player of the Week.
Brooke Craig has already set career-highs across the board in her third season of pitching at UNI. Craig leads the Panthers in wins (14), innings (139.1) and strikeouts (74). The righty's wins, strikeouts, and inning totals are higher than her first two seasons combined. The junior out of Waterloo also has four shutouts on the year.

HOW TO WATCH –

Tuesday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+, with links provided via social media as well as the UNI athletics website.

For game this season that are broadcast on ESPN+, there will be a subscription fee to use ESPN+ ($4.99/monthly, $49.99 annually).

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.

TICKETS –

Admittance for all UNI Softball home games will be free this season.

SOCIAL MEDIA -

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

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