UNI softball falls at SIU in series finale, 9-1

Sunday, March 31

Carbondale, Ill.

12 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

16-11, 0

Southern Illinois

24-7, 0

Northern Iowa

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

Photo by: © KehlexisLLC

UNI softball falls at SIU in series finale, 9-1

3/31/2024 2:30:00 PM | Softball

Box Score FINAL RESULTS

Panthers bats struggle to combat Saluki pitching in six inning loss. UNI visits Iowa State on Tuesday afternoon.

CARBONDALE, Ill. --- A sixth inning home run by Alexis Pupillo was the only offense UNI could put together as the Panthers dropped the finale of a three-game Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) series to the Southern Illinois Salukis on Easter Sunday at Charlotte West Stadium.

Northern Iowa could muster only four hits and committed two errors defensively while giving up 12 hits to the MVC's hottest team, including four extra base hits and two home runs. Looking for her second win of the weekend against SIU, Anna Wischnowski got the start in the pitching circle, facing off against Maddia Groff for a second time in the series after handing the Saluki pitcher her first loss of the year on Friday.

The Salukis would strike first in the bottom of the first inning as Elizabeth Warwick doubled down the left field line, setting up a two-run home run to right by Sidney Jones to give SIU a 2-0 lead. Kylee Sanders and Taylor Hogan would reach base for the Panthers in the top of the second inning on back-to-back one-out singles, but couldn't reach home plate on strikeouts by Savannah Jemilo and Sammy Moss.

SIU added to its lead in the second inning as Bailey Caylor reached second base after a fielding error by Pupillo in shallow right-center field, with Erin Lee driving Caylor home on an RBI single to left-center for a 3-0 Saluki lead. After Lee stole second and Jackie Lis drew a two-out walk, Madison Parks halted Southern Illinois' second inning offense with a diving catch in center field.

Kara Maiers entered the pitching circle for UNI in the bottom of the third inning, rebounding from an early walk and hit batter to keep the score frozen at 3-0. The Salukis would score big in the fourth inning however with a three-run frame, led off by Emma Austin reaching third base on a bunt attempt and wild throw into right field by Savannah Jemilo, leading to a RBI single by Lee. Lis would smack a triple into center field to score Lee, and would cross home plate on a sacrifice fly by Warwick, extending the SIU lead to 6-0.

In the sixth inning, Pupillo would get the Panthers on the board with a solo home run to right-field, her league-leading 11th blast of the year. Southern Illinois would strike back quickly in the bottom of the inning with Lis going deep to left field off of Maddy McDermott, and score again following consecutive singles by Jones and Rylie Hamilton before Rylin Groff scored Jones on a single up the middle. Caylor would push across the winning run for SIU one spot later with a single down the right field round to score Hamilton, handing the Panthers the 9-1 loss in six innings.

Northern Iowa falls to 16-11 with Sunday's loss and 4-2 in league play. UNI has won both of their completed three-game conference series' winning two of three games.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

UNI sits at 50-80 in the all-time series after taking two of three games from the Salukis this weekend.
Anna Wischnowski was charged with the loss in Sunday's loss, falling to 8-4 on the season. Her earned run average now sits a 3.69 on the season.
Sunday's game marked the third time in the last four games Alexis Pupillo has driven in a run.
UNI's six inning loss marks the first time the Panthers have lost an inning-shortened game against an MVC opponent since falling to Drake in the second game of a doubleheader on April 20, 2021 by a score of 9-1.

UP NEXT
The Panthers return to action with a non-conference road contest at Iowa State on Tuesday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT at the Cyclone Sports Complex in Cedar Falls, with live coverage available on Big 12 Now/ESPN+.