University of Northern Iowa Athletics
Thursday, May 10
Des Moines, Iowa
1:30 p.m.
University of Northern Iowa
vs
Illinois State
UNI Set for MVC Tournament in Des Moines
5/8/2018 9:50:00 PM | Softball
UNI Notes (PDF)Â | Illinois State Notes (PDF)
#6 UNI (26-25, 11-14 MVC) vs. #7 Illinois State (20-32, 11-14 MVC)
May 10 | 1:30 p.m. | Des Moines, Iowa | Buel Field
TV - ESPN+
Play-by-Play - R.C. McBride
Analyst - Laura Leonard
Live Stats
NOTE FOR FANS: Parking at the MVC Tournament is located in Lot 4 near Buel Field on the Drake campus.
The Panthers (26-24, 11-14 MVC) will head to the 2018 Missouri Valley Confernece Tournament as the No. 6 seed.Â
UNI will take on No. 7-seeded Illinois State (20-32, 11-14 MVC) Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in the opening round of the MVC Tournament. UNI won two of three this year against Illinois State in Cedar Falls on April 28-29.
The winner of the UNI-Illinois State game will match up against No. 3-seeded Southern Illinois (29-21, 12-12 MVC).
UNI has captured the MVC Tournament championship on two previous occasions - 1990 and 2013. UNI has finished as the runner-up three times (1998, 1999, 2017). UNI has posted 32 MVC Tournament victories in 27 previous appearances in the MVC Tournament.
The Panthers own seven wins over Illinois State in the MVC Tournament. UNI is 7-5 all-time in the MVC Tournament vs. Illinois State.
Sophomore Olivia Brooks is the only MVC player to hit above .500 in conference play. Brooks tallied 21 hits in 41 at bats for a .512 average. Brooks has recorded at least one hit in 11 of her last 12 games played. Brooks has tallied six multi-hit games over her last 14 games played.
Senior Brittney Roby ranks as the second-toughest player in the nation to strikeout. Roby has struck out only three times in 177 at bats, ranking only behind Sacramento State's Zamari Hinton. Hinton has struck out two times in 162 at bats. Roby leads the Panthers in hits (68), doubles (11) and stolen bases (11). Roby also tops the squad in multi-hit games (22). Roby has 16 two-hit games, five three-hit games and one four-hit contest.
Senior Kennedy Bailey holds the UNI career record for walks (117) and on-base percentage (.432). She ranks No. 4 on UNI's all-time putouts list (1,244) and needs only 11 more putouts to move into third place.
Junior Brittany Krodinger is UNI's lone returnee that earned a spot on last year's MVC All-Tournament team.
Sammey Bunch, the reigning MVC Freshman of the Year, has overcome the sophomore slump in 2018. The UNI shortstop leads the team in runs scored (30), extra-base hits (17), home runs (5), RBI (31) and slugging percentage (.520). Bunch is one of two Panthers this season to be named MVC Player of the Week. Bunch ranks second on the squad with 16 multi-hit games. She has 12 two-hit games, three three-hit games and one four-hit contest. Bunch is tied with Bailey for the team lead lead in multi-RBI contests. Bunch and Bailey have each tallied seven multi-RBI games this season. Bunch had a five-RBI game earlier this season against North Carolina A&T (March 4). Bunch and Roby are the only two Panthers to have played in all 51 games.
UNI head coach Ryan Jacobs ranks No. 10 in coaching victories on the MVC's all-time list. Jacobs enters the MVC Tournament with 326 career victories. Jacobs is tied for seventh in league only wins with Evansville's Gwen Lewis (1992-2009) as each have 156 MVC triumphs. Jacobs took over a program that had averaged 19 wins and only 7.4 victory in MVC play from 2003-2007. With Jacobs at the helm, UNI has averaged 29.6 wins overall per season and 14.2 MVC wins per season. Jacobs took over as the UNI head coach in 2008.
Ashley Chesser began the year in a 3-for-39 slump (.077). She had one extra base hit and two RBI through her first 16 games. Since then, Chesser is hitting .282 (20-of-71) with eight extra-base hits and 16 RBI.
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. Craig is 2-0 this season against Illinois State. Craig earned the win in a 10-6 UNI victory on April 28. Craig followed up that effort the next day with a six-hitter and allowed one run in a 6-1 Panther triumph over the Redbirds.
The Panthers have played 13 games this season against teams currently ranked in the RPI top 75. UNI has top-75 wins over No. 41 Kennesaw State (W, 8-0), No. 61 UCF (W, 11-0) and two wins over No. 70 Southeast Missouri State (W, 7-0; W, 8-0).
UNI is 15-3 when scoring five or more runs. The Panthers are 22-4 when holding the opposition to three runs or less. UNI is 18-1 when leading after six innings. The Panthers are 1-19 when trailing after six innings.
SOCIAL MEDIA -
For the latest information on Panther Softball, follow @UNISoftball on Twitter, unisoftball on Instagram and @UNIPantherSoftball on Facebook.
#6 UNI (26-25, 11-14 MVC) vs. #7 Illinois State (20-32, 11-14 MVC)
May 10 | 1:30 p.m. | Des Moines, Iowa | Buel Field
TV - ESPN+
Play-by-Play - R.C. McBride
Analyst - Laura Leonard
Live Stats
NOTE FOR FANS: Parking at the MVC Tournament is located in Lot 4 near Buel Field on the Drake campus.
The Panthers (26-24, 11-14 MVC) will head to the 2018 Missouri Valley Confernece Tournament as the No. 6 seed.Â
UNI will take on No. 7-seeded Illinois State (20-32, 11-14 MVC) Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in the opening round of the MVC Tournament. UNI won two of three this year against Illinois State in Cedar Falls on April 28-29.
The winner of the UNI-Illinois State game will match up against No. 3-seeded Southern Illinois (29-21, 12-12 MVC).
UNI has captured the MVC Tournament championship on two previous occasions - 1990 and 2013. UNI has finished as the runner-up three times (1998, 1999, 2017). UNI has posted 32 MVC Tournament victories in 27 previous appearances in the MVC Tournament.
The Panthers own seven wins over Illinois State in the MVC Tournament. UNI is 7-5 all-time in the MVC Tournament vs. Illinois State.
Sophomore Olivia Brooks is the only MVC player to hit above .500 in conference play. Brooks tallied 21 hits in 41 at bats for a .512 average. Brooks has recorded at least one hit in 11 of her last 12 games played. Brooks has tallied six multi-hit games over her last 14 games played.
Senior Brittney Roby ranks as the second-toughest player in the nation to strikeout. Roby has struck out only three times in 177 at bats, ranking only behind Sacramento State's Zamari Hinton. Hinton has struck out two times in 162 at bats. Roby leads the Panthers in hits (68), doubles (11) and stolen bases (11). Roby also tops the squad in multi-hit games (22). Roby has 16 two-hit games, five three-hit games and one four-hit contest.
Senior Kennedy Bailey holds the UNI career record for walks (117) and on-base percentage (.432). She ranks No. 4 on UNI's all-time putouts list (1,244) and needs only 11 more putouts to move into third place.
Junior Brittany Krodinger is UNI's lone returnee that earned a spot on last year's MVC All-Tournament team.
Sammey Bunch, the reigning MVC Freshman of the Year, has overcome the sophomore slump in 2018. The UNI shortstop leads the team in runs scored (30), extra-base hits (17), home runs (5), RBI (31) and slugging percentage (.520). Bunch is one of two Panthers this season to be named MVC Player of the Week. Bunch ranks second on the squad with 16 multi-hit games. She has 12 two-hit games, three three-hit games and one four-hit contest. Bunch is tied with Bailey for the team lead lead in multi-RBI contests. Bunch and Bailey have each tallied seven multi-RBI games this season. Bunch had a five-RBI game earlier this season against North Carolina A&T (March 4). Bunch and Roby are the only two Panthers to have played in all 51 games.
UNI head coach Ryan Jacobs ranks No. 10 in coaching victories on the MVC's all-time list. Jacobs enters the MVC Tournament with 326 career victories. Jacobs is tied for seventh in league only wins with Evansville's Gwen Lewis (1992-2009) as each have 156 MVC triumphs. Jacobs took over a program that had averaged 19 wins and only 7.4 victory in MVC play from 2003-2007. With Jacobs at the helm, UNI has averaged 29.6 wins overall per season and 14.2 MVC wins per season. Jacobs took over as the UNI head coach in 2008.
Ashley Chesser began the year in a 3-for-39 slump (.077). She had one extra base hit and two RBI through her first 16 games. Since then, Chesser is hitting .282 (20-of-71) with eight extra-base hits and 16 RBI.
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. Craig is 2-0 this season against Illinois State. Craig earned the win in a 10-6 UNI victory on April 28. Craig followed up that effort the next day with a six-hitter and allowed one run in a 6-1 Panther triumph over the Redbirds.
The Panthers have played 13 games this season against teams currently ranked in the RPI top 75. UNI has top-75 wins over No. 41 Kennesaw State (W, 8-0), No. 61 UCF (W, 11-0) and two wins over No. 70 Southeast Missouri State (W, 7-0; W, 8-0).
UNI is 15-3 when scoring five or more runs. The Panthers are 22-4 when holding the opposition to three runs or less. UNI is 18-1 when leading after six innings. The Panthers are 1-19 when trailing after six innings.
SOCIAL MEDIA -
For the latest information on Panther Softball, follow @UNISoftball on Twitter, unisoftball on Instagram and @UNIPantherSoftball on Facebook.
Players Mentioned
1B
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OF
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INF
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C/1B/3B
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P/1B
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OF
/ SoftballPST: Kate Lappe (2026)
Friday, April 10
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PST: Ryan Jacobs - April 3, 2026 (Part 2 of 3)
Friday, April 03
PST: Ryan Jacobs - April 3, 2026 (Part 3 of 3)
Friday, April 03