UNI softball hosts first home series against Missouri State

Saturday, April 2

Cedar Falls, Iowa

1:30 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

Missouri State University

UNI softball hosts first home series against Missouri State

3/31/2022 1:25:00 PM | Softball

UNI Game Notes Missouri State Game Notes Watch on ESPN3 Live Stats

UNI vs. Missouri State

1:30 & 3:30 p.m. | April 2
Cedar Falls, Iowa | Robinson-Dresser Sports Complex (200)
ESPN3 | Announcers TBA

UNI vs. Missouri State

12 p.m. | April 3
Cedar Falls, Iowa | Robinson-Dresser Sports Complex (200)
ESPN3 | Announcers TBA

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- UNI softball returns home for the first time in five weeks for a potential first place matchup in the MVC with the Missouri State Bears.

The Panthers will have their first home series at Robinson-Dresser this weekend against the Bears, who have not been to Cedar Falls since 2016. The two teams hold the first and second place spots in the Valley with UNI just edging out Missouri State with one less loss through the first part of the conference season. A wintry mix is in the forecast for some of the weekend, pushing back the double header on Saturday to later in the afternoon for better field conditions.

THE PANTHERS:
- UNI had their second run rule game of the season on Saturday afternoon. In their second game of the Evansville double header, the Panthers kept the Aces scoreless to win 10-0 in just five innings.
- Starting pitcher Kailyn Packard was one hit away from having her first no-no of the season. Packard did not allow a hit until the fifth inning when Evansville's Haley Hood hit the Aces only single of the day to right field.
- The Panthers continue to dominate in their two best offensive categories of the season, home runs and stolen bases. As of March 28th, UNI is 35th in the nation in home runs per game at 1.12 and 24th in stolen bases at 1.92. The Panthers also lead the MVC in both categories.
- UNI picked up another weekly honor from the Missouri Valley Conference on Tuesday. Freshman shortstop Kylee Sanders was chosen as the MVC Newcomer of the Week for her performance in three games against Evansville. Sanders slashed a .455/.818/.455 and had the Panthers lone triple of the series in their first game of the weekend.

THE BEARS:
- Missouri State comes into this weekend's series on a five-game winning streak. The Bears have picked up wins against Valparaiso and Illinois State in that five-game span as a midweek game against St. Louis was canceled due to weather.
- The Bears currently have the longest game of the season in MVC play. In their conference opener against Southern Illinois, Missouri State battled for 15 innings against the Salukis. Starting pitcher Steffany Dickerson had a complete game, throwing in all 15 innings while the Bears lost to the Salukis 6-2.
- Missouri State had two players recognized this week for their series against Valparaiso. Shortstop Daphne Plummer was picked as the MVC Player of the Week while Dickerson was named MVC Pitcher of the Week. Plummer hit .636 and a 1.000 slugging percentage in the sweep while Dickerson pitched 11 innings with a 0.00 ERA and 10 strikeouts.
- The Bears also have one of the strongest hitters in the league in catcher Alex Boze. Boze holds three MVC categories including slugging percentage and overall home runs.