UNI softball returns to Iowa with clash at Iowa State, first series at Robinson-Dresser Sports Complex in 2024

UNI softball (16-11 / 4-2 MVC) at Iowa State (12-18 / 3-6 Big 12)

4 p.m. CT | April 2
Cyclone Sports Complex | Ames, Iowa
ESPN+
LIVE STATS

UNI softball (16-11 / 4-2 MVC) vs. Missouri State (8-21 / 4-7 MVC)

5 p.m CT | April 5
Robinson-Dresser Sports Complex | Cedar Falls, Iowa
ESPN+

UNI softball vs. Missouri State

2 p.m. CT | April 6
Robinson-Dresser Sports Complex | Cedar Falls, Iowa
ESPN+

UNI softball vs. Missouri State

12 p.m CT | April 7
Robinson-Dresser Sports Complex | Cedar Falls, Iowa
ESPN+
LIVE STATS

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI softball returns to Iowa this week for another jam-packed week of action. The Panthers visit Iowa State on Tuesday at 4 p.m., then return to Robinson-Dresser Sports Complex for the first time in 2024 for a weekend series against Missouri State. UNI's series against the Bears begins at 5 p.m. on Friday and continues at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The series finale is at 12 p.m. on Sunday.

All four games will be broadcast on ESPN+, and live stats will be available for each of the Panthers' games this week.

This weekend's series against Missouri State was supposed to mark the Panthers' second home series at Robinson-Dresser in 2024, but UNI had its home series against Indiana State two weekends ago canceled due to cold temperatures and winter weather. The Panthers have 11 scheduled home games over the final month of the regular season.

UNI enters the week in good form after going 3-1 last week. The Panthers recorded their first run rule victory of the 2024 season last Tuesday with a 9-0 victory at Illinois. UNI jumped on the Fighting Illini early, as Addison McElrath hit a three-run home run in the first inning to give the Panthers an early lead. After Kate Lappe drove home a run in the second inning, she and McElrath hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning to cap a five-run frame. Samantha Heyer cruised to a five-inning complete game in the circle as the Panthers earned a nine-run victory.

Then, the Panthers took two of three games from Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) leaders Southern Illinois. The Salukis entered the weekend with an unbeaten conference record, but the Panthers won the first two games of the series before SIU took the series finale on Sunday. On Friday night, UNI became the first team to hand Saluki pitcher Maddia Groff a defeat after she entered the contest with a 15-0 record and 0.44 ERA. Alexis Pupillo hit the game-winning home run, one of two home runs for Pupillo last weekend, while Anna Wischnowski spun a complete game as the Panthers took home the series opener 2-1.

An early home run from Kylee Sanders proved enough to be the difference on Saturday. Sanders' hit her first home run of the year in the top of the second inning, a two-run blast that marked UNI's lone runs of the contest. Samantha Heyer shut down the Salukis in the circle, finishing with an 11-strikeout complete game as the Panthers won 2-1 yet again. SIU dominated the series finale with a 9-1 victory.

Pupillo enters this week with an opportunity to inch towards program history. With one more home run, Pupillo would move into a four-way tie for fourth place on UNI softball's career home runs list. She'd be alongside Jody Dean (1996-99), Courtney Dunker (2009-12) and Chelsea Ross (2014-16) with 29 career home runs. So far this season, Pupillo's 11 home runs rank No. 24 nationally and lead the MVC. She also leads the conference in RBIs per game (1.00), runs per game (0.93), slugging percentage (.800) and sacrifice flies.

Madison Parks continues to approach UNI's single-season walks leaderboard, and is just three walks away from moving into a three-way tie for fifth place. Parks' 31 walks are tied for the fourth-highest total nationally, and she ranks No. 2 nationally with 1.15 walks per game. Heyer, who ranks second on UNI softball's career strikeout list, has 96 strikeouts thus far in 2024 and ranks No. 15 nationally with 9.5 strikeouts per seven innings.

The Panthers begin their week with their 89th all-time matchup against the Cyclones, and their first game in Ames since 2022. Iowa State has commanded the in-state series recently as the Cyclones enter Tuesday's contest with a two-game winning streak against the Panthers. Additionally, Iowa State has won four of the last five meetings between the sides.

Iowa State is 12-18 so far in 2024 and 3-6 in Big 12 play. The Cyclones suffered a series loss at No. 23 Baylor over the weekend, but did win the middle game of the series before dropping the series finale. Iowa State is led offensively by Angelina Allen, who ranks No. 19 nationally with a .452 batting average. Allen leads the Big 12 with 47 hits and also has nine home runs.

The Panthers then welcome Missouri State to Robinson-Dresser Sports Complex. The Bears are 8-21 overall and 4-7 in MVC play, but do play a mid-week game at Tulsa before making the trip to Cedar Falls. The Bears lost twice against Southern Illinois to open MVC play, but are coming off of a home series victory against Murray State last weekend.

Kayla Ulrich leads the Bears with a .373 batting average, while Annie Mueller has a team-high six home runs and 21 RBIs. As a team, the Bears have a 4.44 ERA and average 3.17 runs per game. Olivia Krehbiel ranks second in the MVC and No. 43 nationally with 0.69 walks per game.

Last season, the Bears finished in second place in the MVC standings with a 31-20 overall record and 21-6 MVC record. UNI last faced Missouri State in 2022, when the Bears ended the Panthers' season in the 2022 MVC Tournament Championship.

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