UNI softball heads to Normal for Illinois State series

UNI softball at Illinois State

5 p.m. | April 21
Normal, Ill. | Marian Kneer Stadium (1,050)
ESPN+ | Peter Ferreri: Play-by-play, Genna Rose: Analyst

UNI softball at Illinois State

2 p.m. | April 22
Normal, Ill | Marian Kneer Stadium (1,050)
ESPN3 | John Lock: Play-by-play

UNI softball at Illinois State

12 p.m. | April 23
Normal, Ill. | Marian Kneer Stadium (1,050)
ESPN+ | John Lock: Play-by-play

NORMAL, Ill. -- The Panthers will face their toughest road test in the Missouri Valley Conference this weekend in a three-game series with the Illinois State Redbirds.

The Redbirds sit only a game and a half behind UNI in the MVC standings heading into a crucial weekend series. While the Panthers got a taste of tough road play at Indiana State at the beginning of the month, they'll have their biggest challenge yet with third-place Illinois State. At this time the three-game series is scheduled to be played Friday, Saturday, and Sunday but could shift due to cooler temperatures in the forecast on Saturday.

THE PANTHERS:
- UNI has officially won their series against in-state rival Drake after taking two of three wins on Tuesday evening. The Panthers came away with a 9-2 win from Ron Buel Field in their only trip to Des Moines this season. UNI will look to close out the series with a sweep next Tuesday on home field.
- The Panthers continue to climb national standings as they stay at the top of the MVC leaderboard. After midweek matchups across the country, UNI sits in the Top 25 in batting average, doubles, doubles per game, home runs per game, on-base percentage, scoring, slugging percentage, and strikeout-to-walk ratio.
- Along with the whole team moving up the national leaderboard, sophomore outfielder Mya Dodge leads the country in one category. Dodge is averaging the most runs brought in (RBIs) per game among Division I hitters at 1.51 RBIs a game. This includes 19 RBIs in the past five Valley games.
- UNI also added more MVC Weekly Awards to its season resume as Mya Dodge was named the Player of the Week and Alexis Pupillo the Newcomer of the Week. Pupillo was also named D1Softball's Freshman of the Week by going 8 for 11 with five home runs, four walks, 11 RBIs and 11 runs scored against Drake and Southern Illinois.

THE REDBIRDS:
- Illinois State comes into the weekend series with an overall record of 25-17 and an MVC record of 14-3. The Redbirds are coming off a big Power 5 win from Tuesday evening in a close 3-2 victory over Illinois.
- The Redbirds have only lost to two Valley opponents, their opening conference game against Belmont and two games against Missouri State at home. The Bears sit one spot ahead of Illinois State in the MVC standings, having the tiebreaker with the series win.
- Illinois State has been on a roll in the conference since its series loss to Missouri State. The Redbirds have four series sweep of the 2023 season after going 3-0 at Drake on Apr. 14-15. Illinois State also has sweeps against Bradley, UIC, and Valparaiso. The Redbirds also picked up two wins against fellow conference opponent Murray State in a non-conference tournament at the Racer's home field.
- The Redbirds are led by fifth-year senior Emme Olson who has a .351 batting average in 42 games this season. Olson also leads the team in hits (47), RBIs (28), and on-base percentage (.435). Illinois State's other power hitter is sophomore Delainey Bryant with a .328 batting average and .575 slugging percentage to lead the team.

Calendar

Upcoming Events