UNI softball travels to Evansville for three game series

UNI vs. Evansville

12 p.m., 2 p.m. | March 26
Evansville, Ind. | Cooper Stadium (500)
ESPN3 | Max Thoma: Play-by-Play, Reza Shokouhzadeh: Analyst

UNI vs. Evansville

12 p.m. | March 27
Evansville, Ind. | Cooper Stadium (500)
ESPN3 | Max Thoma: Play-by-Play, Reza Shokouhzadeh: Analyst

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- UNI softball will face one of the hottest teams in the Valley this weekend in Indiana.

Panther softball will matchup against the Evansville Aces for three games over the weekend. In 2021 UNI was able to sweep the Aces with three lopsided scores, a feat likely not to be replicated this weekend. The Aces have the best non-conference record in the league and is the only Valley team with single digit losses in the first two months.

THE PANTHERS:
- The Panthers are off to a perfect start to the conference season after having a slow start to the non-conference portion. UNI swept Southern Illinois in their first MVC series of 2022 with a solid comeback performance to begin the weekend. This is the first time in 8 years that the Panthers have swept their opening MVC series with the last coming in 2014 also against Southern Illinois.
- UNI had their best offensive effort of the season so far in their first game of Missouri Valley action. Down by 7 runs, the Panthers fought their way back Friday afternoon for a 17-13 win over Southern Illinois. The last time UNI scored 15 or more runs against an opponent was the 2021 season in an April game against Evansville when the Panthers put up 22 runs to run rule the Aces.
- The Panthers had two of their players recognized for their success in the team's first MVC series of the year. Redshirt-junior Kamryn Shaffer was named the MVC Player of the Week while freshman Mya Doge was named MVC Newcomer of the Week.
- The Panthers have found their best success so far this season while out running the bases. UNI leads the Valley and is 36th in the nation in stolen bases per game, averaging 1.72 a game. Freshman Mya Dodge has led the way, averaging 0.56 stolen bases a game with 10 on the season so far.

THE ACES:
- The Aces have been off to one of their best starts with a 17-8 record on the season so far. Evansville's main losses have come to ranked teams such as #2 Alabama and #8 Virginia Tech.
- On the current MVC season, Evansville is 2-1 from their weekend series with Drake. Despite dropping the first game of the weekend, the Aces rallied for two straight wins on Sunday in an early doubleheader.
- The Aces were initially set to play a two game series with Tennessee Tech over the week before taking on the Panthers. But due to rain in the forecast the two game series was canceled with the potential for the series to be rescheduled. The Panthers also had to cancel a game with the Golden Eagles earlier in the season due to rain in Cookeville, Tenn.
- Evansville has thrived off their pitching in the early going of the season as starter Izzy Vetter holds the lead in several MVC stats categories, including opposing batting average, batters struck out, wins, and batters struck out looking.

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