UNI softball secures series victory with 2-1 victory over Southern Illinois

Saturday, March 30

Carbondale, Ill.

2 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

16-10, 0

Southern Illinois

23-7, 0

Northern Iowa

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

UNI softball at 2024 Doc Halverson UNI-Dome Classic | Feb. 9-11, 2024 (Cedar Falls, Iowa)

UNI softball secures series victory with 2-1 victory over Southern Illinois

3/30/2024 5:06:00 PM | Softball

Box Score FINAL RESULTS

Panthers hand Salukis their first conference series loss of 2024, look to sweep series on Easter Sunday

CARBONDALE, Illinois --- UNI softball earned a colossal series victory on Saturday afternoon, riding a two-run home run from Kylee Sanders and a stellar pitching outing from Samantha Heyer to a 2-1 victory over Southern Illinois. The Panthers will look to sweep the Salukis, who entered the weekend atop the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) with a 8-0 record in league play, in the series finale on Easter Sunday.

Like Friday night, Saturday's contest was incredibly tense. The sides combined for six total hits, and the Panthers ultimately won by the same scoreline for the second consecutive day.

UNI didn't score in the first inning on Saturday afternoon, but did bring home its lone runs of the contest in the top of the second inning. Addison McElrath led off the frame with the first hit of the day, fizzing an offering from Saluki starting pitcher Madi Eberle up the middle for a single. Maggie Erpelding, pinch running for McElrath then swiped second base before advancing to third on a well-placed sacrifice bunt by Taylor Hogan.

That brought Sanders to the plate, who clubbed the first pitch she saw from Eberle over the fence for a two-run home run. Sanders' blast marked her first home run of the 2024 season and gave the Panthers a crucial 2-0 advantage.

Eberle settled in after Sanders' home run, allowing just one hit for the remainder of Saturday's contest, while Southern Illinois' offense struggled to crack Heyer. Heyer punctuated the third inning by striking out the side, as she retired the first nine Saluki batters she faced. Jackie Lis recorded SIU's first hit of the contest with a leadoff double in the bottom of the fourth inning, but Heyer retired the next three Saluki batters to escape the jam.

The Panthers threatened to extend their lead in the top of the fifth. Savana Jemilo led off the inning with a bloop single to right field, then pinch runner Gretta Hartz advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Eberle retired the next two Panther batters, but walked Alexis Pupillo and Madison Parks to load the bases. Eberle escaped the jam, though, as Kate Lappe lined out to right field to end the inning.

Heyer worked a clean inning in the bottom of the fifth, but the Salukis started to threaten in the home half of the sixth. Emma Austin led off the inning with a bunt, then advanced to second on a passed ball. Lis then recorded her second hit of the contest with a single to center field, which advanced Austin to third base while Lis advanced to second as Parks fired the ball home.

With runners at second and third and no outs, Elizabeth Warwick hit a sacrifice fly to cut the Panthers' lead in half. Heyer settled in after that, striking out Sidney Jones and forcing Rylie Hamilton to fly out to end the inning.

The Panthers placed runners at first and second base with two outs in the top of the seventh, but could not drive home an insurance run entering the bottom of the seventh.

Heyer ensured there would be little drama, slamming the door with three quick outs and punctuating UNI's series victory with her 11th strikeout of the afternoon.

UNI improved to 16-10 with Saturday's victory, and the win marked the team's second consecutive MVC series victory.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Sanders' game-winning home run marked her first home run of the 2024 season and her fifth RBI. It marked the second multi-RBI game for Sanders in 2024, with the first coming on Feb. 24 against Southeast Missouri State.
Saturday marked the 10th home run of Sanders' collegiate career, and her first home run since April 25, 2023.
Heyer spun her sixth complete game of the season on Saturday, which put her ERA at 1.78 through 14 appearances.
Heyer entered the weekend ranked No. 17 nationally and No. 2 in the MVC with 9.3 strikeouts per seven innings. She now has 96 strikeouts for the season.
Erpelding recorded her fifth stolen base of the season on Saturday.
Parks, who entered the weekend ranked first nationally with 1.21 walks per game, picked up one walk against the Salukis on Saturday. She now has 31 walks for the 2024 season, and remains well within striking distance to crack UNI softball's single-season leaderboard for most walks recorded.
UNI softball continued its remarkable streak in MVC play after securing a series victory against Southern Illinois on Saturday. The Panthers have not lost an MVC series since 2021, when Missouri State took two out of three games from UNI in a series that ran from March 20-21.

UP NEXT

The Panthers wrap up their series against Southern Illinois at 12 p.m. on Sunday. The contest can be streamed on ESPN+, and live stats will be available.