University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
9-5
South Alabama
11-5
UNI softball rounds out T-Mobile Crimson Classic with two losses
3/2/2024 8:27:00 PM | Softball
Panthers fall to South Alabama, No. 21 Arizona on final day of event
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama --- UNI softball dropped its final two games of the T-Mobile Crimson Classic on Saturday. The Panthers lost 11-3 against South Alabama on Saturday morning, then fell 9-3 against No. 21 Arizona on Saturday night.
The defeats drop the Panthers' record to 9-6.
Game 1 | UNI 3 - USA 11 (F/5)
After the Panthers pulled off a narrow victory against the Jaguars on Friday night, South Alabama ensured there would be little doubt about the result of Saturday morning's contest with an eight-run victory.
UNI had an opportunity to open the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, Madison Parks walked and Addison McElrath singled to set up an RBI opportunity for Kate Lappe, but she struck out to end the inning.
The Jaguars blew the game open in the top of the second and ultimately chased Panther starting pitcher Samantha Heyer from the contest. Heyer retired the first batter of the inning, but gave up two singles and a walk to the next three South Alabama batters to load the bases. The Jaguars' next batter, Marley Sims, walked to put the Jaguars ahead 1-0.
After a wild pitch gave South Alabama its second run of the inning, Gabby Stagner hit a grand slam to left field to give the Jaguars a 6-0 lead. Following Stagner's blast, Maddy McDermott entered the contest for Heyer. McDermott promptly retired the next two Jaguar batters, but the six-run deficit ultimately proved too much to overcome.
Trailing 7-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Lappe hit a leadoff double and later scored on a single from Faith Standerski. The Panthers had runners at second and third with two outs in the inning, but were unable to push any additional runs across and trailed 7-1 entering the fifth.
South Alabama scored four more runs in the top of the fifth to give the Jaguars an 11-1 lead. Lappe and Parks hit solo home runs in the bottom of the inning, but the Panthers were unable to cut South Alabama's lead to under eight runs and the game ended due to the run rule.
Game 2 | UNI 3 - No. 21 Arizona 9
The final game of the T-Mobile Crimson Classic resulted in a victory for Arizona. The Wildcats struck quickly against Anna Wischnowski, getting an RBI groundout in the top of the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead.
Arizona would go on to score in each of the first four innings. The Wildcats loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the second inning, and Carlie Scupin's two-out, two-RBI single capped a three-run frame for Arizona.
Facing a 4-0 deficit in the bottom of the second, the Panthers recorded their first run of the game on their lone hit of the contest. McElrath got hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, then pinch runner Maggie Erpelding stole second and advanced to third on a groundout by Taylor Hogan. Standerski drove Erpelding home with an RBI double to cut the Wildcats' lead to 4-1.
Arizona restored its four-run advantage in the top of the third, but the Panthers again cut Arizona's lead to three after some heads-up baserunning by Alexis Pupillo. With two outs, Pupillo was hit by a pitch and broke for second during Parks' ensuing at-bat. Arizona's catcher made an errant throw in an effort to catch Pupillo stealing, and the throw allowed Pupillo to score on the stolen base attempt.
Unfortunately, the Panthers were unable to cut further into Arizona's lead. The Wildcats quickly put up four runs in the top of the fourth, capped by a two-RBI single from Allie Skaggs, which ultimately chased Wischnowski from the contest. Kara Maiers pitched the remainder of the game in relief.
Despite having just one hit, UNI made Arizona's pitching staff work. The Panthers drew six total walks and were hit by three pitches, which led to some congestion on the base paths in the later innings. In the bottom of the sixth, Pupillo was hit by a pitch and Parks and Hogan walked, which loaded the bases with one out in the inning. The Panthers were unable to capitalize, though.
In the bottom of the seventh, UNI's first two batters of the inning walked before Kylee Sanders moved both runners ahead with a flyout to left field. Pupillo brought Gretta Hartz, who was pinch running for Savanna Jemilo, home with a sacrifice fly for the final run of the game.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- Through 15 games, Parks has recorded a team-high 22 walks. Parks, who entered the weekend ranked No. 3 nationally with 1.42 walks per game, became UNI softball's all-time leader in total walks recorded this weekend.
- Parks has 124 career walks and passed Kennedy Bailey (2015-18) for the program record.
- Parks and Lappe hit their second home runs of the 2024 season on Saturday morning against South Alabama. It marked the 16th home run of Parks' collegiate career and the second of Lappe's collegiate career
- Lappe has a career-high 10 hits, seven RBIs and two home runs through 15 games in 2024.
- McDermott recorded the final 11 outs of Saturday morning's contest in the circle, and her 3.2 innings of work marked the second longest outing of her collegiate career.
- Maiers had a strong outing on Saturday night, pitching 3.2 innings of relief, allowing two hits and tossing three strikeouts. She set a Panther career high in innings pitched and strikeouts with Saturday's performance. Maiers also did not allow a run.
- Standerski has recorded an RBI in consecutive contests for just the second time in her collegiate career. The previous instance came in 2021.
UP NEXT
The Panthers close their non-conference road trip next weekend in Fayetteville, Arkansas at Arkansas' Razorback Rumble. UNI will play five games total against Nebraska, Saint Francis (PA), South Alabama and Arkansas.
UNI begins the event on Friday at 10 a.m. against Nebraska then, at 12:15 p.m., faces South Alabama.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Madison Lagle (1-0)
L: Heyer, Samantha (3-3)
Batting:
2B: Bailey Welch 1
HR: Gabby Stagner 1 ; Gracie Tentinger 1
RBI: Gabby Stagner 4 ; Gracie Tentinger 1 ; Odalys Cordova 1 ; Bailey Welch 1 ; Marley Sims 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mackenzie Brasher 1 ; Gabby Stagner 1 ; Stephanie Gonzalez 1 ; Gracie Tentinger 2 ; Caitlyn Gavin 1 ; Odalys Cordova 2 ; Bailey Welch 2 ; Marley Sims 1
CS: Marley Sims 1
Batting:
2B: Lappe, Kate 1 ; Hogan, Taylor 1
HR: Parks, Madison 1 ; Lappe, Kate 1
RBI: Parks, Madison 1 ; Lappe, Kate 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Parks, Madison 1 ; Lappe, Kate 2
SB: Standerski, Faith 1 ; Erpelding, Maggie 1
