Panthers Fall to South Dakota and Murray State

Friday, February 7

Cedar Falls, IA

1:30 PM

University of Northern Iowa

0-1

University of South Dakota

1-0

South Dakota

UNI

Panthers Fall to South Dakota and Murray State

2/7/2020 4:08:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

Cedar Falls, Iowa – The Panthers fall to 0-2 on the season, falling to South Dakota and Murray State on the opening day of the 2020 Doc Halverson UNI-Dome Classic.

UNI vs South Dakota | L, 5-3
The Panthers fell 5-3 to the South Dakota Coyotes in the season-opener Friday in game one of the Doc Halverson UNI-Dome Classic. Senior Jaclyn Spencer (0-1) got the ball to start for UNI (0-1) and took the loss. The southpaw went six innings, giving up four runs, three earned, on six hits, allowing one walk and striking out three.

In the batter's box, the Panthers were paced by senior Sammy Bunch, who went 2-for-4 on the day with a triple. Junior Emma Valainis put together a noteworthy day at the dish as well, going 1-for-4 with an RBI. Senior Adara Opiola chipped in for UNI, putting together one hit in four trips to the plate while adding a double.

The Panthers got on the board immediately, starting their scoring in the first inning. Bunch came across to score the lone run of the inning for UNI and get them on the board.

The Panthers lost the lead they built in the first, but got back on the board in the sixth trailing 4-1. Senior Tianna Drahn's run-scoring single highlighted an inning where UNI scored twice, which cut the lead to 4-3.

GAME NOTES
» The Panthers tallied seven hits and left seven on base.
» USD Jordyn Pender led South Dakota with three hits and two RBIs in the game.
» The game was the season opener for both teams.

UNI vs Murray State | L, 3-1

The UNI Panthers put together a valiant effort on Friday, but ultimately came up short, falling to the Murray State Racers by the score of 3-1.

Freshman S. Heyer (0-1) started and took the loss in the circle for UNI (0-2, ). The right-hander went six innings, giving up two runs, both of them earned, on seven hits, allowing one walk and striking out seven.

Senior S. Bunch led the way offensively for the Panthers, going 2-for-3 in the ballgame with a home run and an RBI.

The Panthers were trailing 1-0 in the third inning when they first put runs on the board. Bunch put UNI on the board with a leadoff home run off senior. Murray State then scored two times over the remaining four innings to break the tie and grab the 3-1 win.

GAME NOTES
» Heyer fanned seven Racers hitters.
» UNI's highest scoring inning was the third, when it pushed one run across.
» UNI pitchers faced 31 Murray State hitters in the game, allowing six ground balls and five fly balls while striking out nine.
» Bunch led the Panthers at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a home run and an RBI.
» Murray State was led offensively by junior , who went 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.
» Freshman led the Racers pitching staff, throwing 1.2 shutout innings.

UP NEXT
Next up for UNI is a matchup on Saturday, February 8 at 12:30 PM against Murray State.

LIVE STATS
Click for UNI softball game live stats

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