University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
26-15, 0
Illinois State
19-28, 0
Panthers sweep Saturday contests against Redbirds
4/27/2024 4:16:00 PM | Softball
UNI softball improves to 27-15 on the season with back-to-back victories over Illinois State in the UNI-Dome.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- The Panther softball team opened the final home series of the regular season against the Redbirds. After some severe weather, the weekend's format shifted to a Saturday doubleheader and a single game on Sunday inside the UNI-Dome.
The Panthers and the Redbirds fought even through the two innings of game one which saw six strikeouts from pitcher Samantha Heyer for the first six outs. UNI broke through in the bottom of the third inning on a home run from Daryn Lamprecht, her seventh of the season.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Panthers poured it on with four runs in the frame which started with a home run from Addison McElrath. A single from Taylor Hogan scored Kylee Sanders who reached earlier in the inning on a single. Hogan and Gretta Hartz would cross the plate to close the fourth inning with a 5-0 lead off of a passed ball and a throwing error.
Heyer continued to deal in the top of the fifth inning after drawing a bases-loaded swinging strikeout from the Redbirds to close the door on the potential scoring situation. UNI capped game one with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take the five-inning, run-rule victory 8-0. The frame saw Makenna Kuper, Faith Standerski, and Sanders cross the plate after four walks, two while the bases were loaded to wrap up game one.
The Redbirds struck first in the top of the second inning with a double up the left-field line that drove in a runner from second base. The Panthers tied the game at one in the bottom of the fourth inning with a sacrifice fly from Savanna Jemilo which scored Sanders.
After a pair of strikeouts in the top of the fifth inning by Anna Wischnowski, Alexis Pupillo launched a home run to left center to score Madison Parks and take a 3-1 lead late in the matchup. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Pupillo added another RBI to her total with an RBI single down the middle to score Gretta Hartz who was pinch-running for Jemilo. The Panthers took a 4-1 lead and looked to close out the day in the top of the seventh inning. UNI was successful in the top of the seventh and took home a 4-1 victory in game two.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- The Panthers are now 40-79-1 all-time against the Redbirds after the Saturday sweep.
- Samantha Heyer recorded her sixth double-digit strikeout game of the season in game one with 10 strikeouts.
- Game one was the 12th game this season where the Panthers had more than one home run in a game.
- With the 2 wins today against the Redbirds, head coach Ryan Jacobs is now nine victories away from his 500th win.
- After three home runs and 12 RBIs on Saturday, the Panthers currently have a total of 44 home runs and 188 RBIs on the season.
UP NEXT
The Panthers close the series with the Redbirds on Sunday with game three of the weekend inside the UNI-Dome. Live coverage can be found on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Heyer, Samantha (14-6)
L: Meshnick, H. (7-13)
Batting:
HR: McElrath, Addison 1 ; Lamprecht, Daryn 1
RBI: Parks, Madison 2 ; McElrath, Addison 1 ; Smithson, Ava 1 ; Hogan, Taylor 1 ; Jemilo, Savanna 1 ; Lamprecht, Daryn 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Kuper, Makenna 1 ; McElrath, Addison 1 ; Standerski, Faith 1 ; Sanders, Kylee 2 ; Hogan, Taylor 1 ; Hartz, Gretta 1 ; Lamprecht, Daryn 1
SB: Sanders, Kylee 1
