University of Northern Iowa
26-11, 15-1
Southern Illinois University
29-11, 10-7
UNI softball cruises to 18-2 rout of Southern Illinois
4/15/2023 5:02:00 PM | Softball
Panthers complete three-game sweep of Salukis with a 9-run fourth inning. Return to the field Tuesday at Drake.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI's hot swinging bats kept the flames burning on Saturday afternoon as the Panthers completed the series sweep over Southern Illinois with an 18-2 rout in 5 innings over the Salukis in the finale of a three-game set at Robinson-Dresser Sports Complex.
A commanding weekend, the Panthers sweep included UNI outsourcing SIU 42-7 with 43 hits to the Salukis' 10. UNI also hit a total of 16 home runs over the course of the last 3 games.
Leading from start to finish, the Panthers launched 4 home runs over the fences in Saturday's game, aided by a 9-run fourth inning. Samantha Heyer earned her eighth straight winning decision to improve to 16-4 on the season with 7 strikeouts, while Kailyn Packard pitched the final frame, forcing a pair of groundouts and a flyout to secure the game.
The Panther retired the first three Saluki batters of the day, before UNI struck first with Alexis Pupillo and Madison Parks both reaching base on back-to-back singles. After Parks stole second base, Mya Dodge would drive in the game's first run with Pupillo scoring on a fielder's choice to first base. Taylor Hogan notched the Panthers' first extra base hit of the day on a double to left-center to score a pair, before Brooke Snider brought Hogan home on a two-run blast out of the ballpark, giving UNI a 5-0 advantage early.
The Panthers tacked on two additional runs in the bottom of the second inning with Pupillo driving in Kylee Sanders after Sanders reached on an infield error. Dodge would drive in Pupillo for the second straight inning on a flyball to shallow right field that popped out of the glove of the defender, allowing the UNI catcher to score before Dodge was tagged out at second.
UNI would score twice more in the third frame with Addison McElrath and Hogan reaching on back-to-back singles to begin the inning, Pinch running for McElrath, Maggie Erpelding took third base on a wild pitch and would score on an RBI single to left by Faith Standerski. Hogan would score a short time later as SIU loaded the bags and walked Pupillo to drive to extend the Panther lead to 9-0.
Southern Illinois broke the shutout bid in the top of the fourth inning as Sidney Jones launched a two-run home run to right field to cut into the Panther lead. UNI responded with a dominating offensive output, beginning with Snider's second home run of the game to drive in Dodge and McElrath and extend the lead back to 12-2. After a Standerski single, Daryn Lamprecht got in on the action with her sixth long ball of the season, giving the purple and gold a 14-2 edge. Following a Sanders walk and Pupillo single, Parks drove in Sanders on her 21st RBI of the year to right field, before Dodge smacked her second hit of the day to left to bring Pupillo home. Hogan would put a bow on UNI's 9-run inning with her second double of the game to score Dodge and Parks.
Â
UP NEXT
The Panthers hit the road this coming Tuesday afternoon for a single-game against the Drake Bulldogs. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT at Buel Field in Des Moines.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Heyer, Samantha (16-4)
L: M. Eberle (13-5)
Batting:
HR: S. Jones 1
RBI: S. Jones 2
Base Running:
RUNS: A. Carder 1 ; S. Jones 1
Batting:
2B: Pupillo, Alexis 1 ; Hogan, Taylor 2
HR: Snider, Brooke 2 ; Lamprecht, Daryn 1
RBI: Pupillo, Alexis 2 ; Parks, Madison 1 ; Dodge, Mya 3 ; Hogan, Taylor 4 ; Snider, Brooke 5 ; Standerski, Faith 1 ; Lamprecht, Daryn 2
SH: Hogan, Taylor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sanders, Kylee 2 ; Pupillo, Alexis 3 ; Parks, Madison 2 ; Dodge, Mya 3 ; McElrath, Addison 1 ; Erpelding, Maggie 1 ; Hogan, Taylor 2 ; Snider, Brooke 2 ; Standerski, Faith 1 ; Lamprecht, Daryn 1
SB: Parks, Madison 1
CS: Parks, Madison 1
HBP: Sanders, Kylee 1
