University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
28-15, 0
Illinois State
19-30, 0
Panthers softball honors senior after dominant victory over Redbirds
4/28/2024 2:35:00 PM | Softball
UNI softball honored their nine seniors on a Sunday senior day after a 19-1 victory over Illinois State.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- The UNI softball team honored their seniors inside the UNI-Dome after game three of its series with the Illinois State Redbirds. Seniors Samantha Heyer, Faith Standerski, Maggie Erpelding, Ellie Owen, Madison Parks, Taylor Hogan, Sammy Moss, Daryn Lamprecht, and Gretta Hartz were honored after the Panthers' dominant, 19-1 victory over Illinois State.
After an even first inning, the Panthers took the lead in the bottom of the second inning on a double from Taylor Hogan which scored pinch-running Maggie Erpelding. UNI notched two more runs in the bottom of the third inning starting with a home run from Daryn Lamprecht down the left-field line on the first pitch of the inning. A double from Madison Parks was followed by a double from Addison McElrath to score Parks and put the Panthers up three at 3-0.
The top of the fourth inning saw the lone Redbird run of the game on a home run before the Panthers unleashed a barrage of runs in the home-half of the fourth inning. Opening the scoring for the inning was Daryn Lamprecht with a double to score Ava Smithson. The Redbirds walked the bases loaded which brought up Alexis Pupillo. On the first pitch of the at-bat, Pupillo launched a ball to center field for the first UNI grand slam of the season to take an 8-1 lead. The Panthers weren't done there as Kylee Sanders launched yet another Panther home run to take an eight-run advantage over Illinois State. An error on the Redbirds loaded up the bases once again before Lamprecht continued to work in the fourth inning and drove in Taylor Hogan on a single up the left side. With two outs on the board, UNI notched 10 runs, including the Lamprecht single. A walk of Parks scored Standerski for UNI's 11th run before a double from Pupillo scored both Savanna Jemilo and Makenna Kuper who was running for Lamprecht. Kate Lappe joined the RBI party, scoring Parks on a single. The Panthers' 15th and 16th runs came off a double from Sanders which scored Pupillo and Lappe to give UNI a 16-1 lead. Taylor Hogan scored Paige Peterson who was running for Addison McElrath on a single up the left side before the final Panther scoring play of the game which came on a single up the middle from Jemilo to score both Hogan and Sanders.
Samantha Heyer followed the dominant offensive performance with three strikeouts to cap the game in the fifth inning.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- The Panthers improved to 41-79-1 all-time against the Redbirds after the 19-1 win inside the UNI-Dome.
- Alexis Pupillo launched the Panthers' first grand slam of the season in UNI's dominant fourth inning. The grand slam was her 16th home run of the season, she is now one home run short of tying her 17 home run total from the 2023 season. She is also tied for the lead in the MVC for home runs this season.
- With the victory, head coach Ryan Jacobs is now eight wins shy of 500 career wins.
- After three home runs and 19 RBIs on Sunday, the Panthers currently have a total of 47 home runs and 207 RBIs on the season.
- The victory was the 13th game this season where the Panthers had more than one home run in a game.
UP NEXT
The Panthers close the home portion of the regular season on Wednesday with a matchup against Iowa. The Panthers' annual Bark in the Park day is scheduled for a 5 p.m. CT first pitch at Robinson-Dresser Sports Complex. Live video can be streamed on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Heyer, Samantha (15-6)
L: Meshnick, H. (7-14)
Batting:
HR: Masching, A. 1
RBI: Masching, A. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Masching, A. 1
HBP: Hopkins, A. 1
Batting:
2B: Parks, Madison 1 ; Pupillo, Alexis 1 ; McElrath, Addison 1 ; Sanders, Kylee 1 ; Hogan, Taylor 1 ; Lamprecht, Daryn 1
HR: Pupillo, Alexis 1 ; Sanders, Kylee 1 ; Lamprecht, Daryn 1
RBI: Parks, Madison 1 ; Pupillo, Alexis 6 ; Lappe, Kate 1 ; McElrath, Addison 1 ; Sanders, Kylee 3 ; Hogan, Taylor 2 ; Jemilo, Savanna 2 ; Lamprecht, Daryn 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Parks, Madison 3 ; Pupillo, Alexis 2 ; Lappe, Kate 1 ; Erpelding, Maggie 1 ; Peterson, Paige 1 ; Sanders, Kylee 2 ; Hogan, Taylor 2 ; Smithson, Ava 1 ; Standerski, Faith 1 ; Jemilo, Savanna 1 ; Hartz, Gretta 1 ; Lamprecht, Daryn 2 ; Kuper, Makenna 1
