University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Drake
UNI softball hits the road for four games against Drake, Bradley
4/8/2024 2:51:00 PM | Softball
UNI softball (18-13 / 6-3 MVC) at Drake (16-15 / 4-5 MVC)
- 5 p.m. CT | April 9
- Buel Field | Des Moines, Iowa
- ESPN+
- LIVE STATS
UNI softball (18-13 / 6-3 MVC) at Bradley (18-19 / 8-6 MVC)
- 5 p.m CT | April 12
- OSF Healthcare Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex | Peoria, Illinois
- ESPN+
- LIVE STATS
UNI softball at Bradley
- 2 p.m. CT | April 13
- OSF Healthcare Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex | Peoria, Illinois
- ESPN+
- LIVE STATS
UNI softball at Bradley
- 12 p.m CT | April 14
- OSF Healthcare Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex | Peoria, Illinois
- ESPN+
- LIVE STATS
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CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI softball continues Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) play this week with four crucial contests as the team enters the final month of the 2024 regular season. The Panthers open the week with an in-state clash against Drake, the first of three contests against the Bulldogs spread out over the next two weeks, on Tuesday at 5 p.m. in Des Moines.
The Panthers then visit Bradley for a three-game weekend series. The series opens at 5 p.m. on Friday and continues at 2 p.m. on Saturday. UNI's series against the Braves wraps up at 12 p.m. on Sunday. All four games this week will be broadcast on ESPN+, and live stats will be available for each of the Panthers' games.Â
UNI went 2-2 last week, dropping a midweek clash against Iowa State before taking two of three games from Missouri State in the Panthers' first series at Robinson-Dresser Sports Complex in 2024. The week began on a positive note, as Samantha Heyer was named MVC Pitcher of the Week and Alexis Pupillo was named MVC Player of the Week right before the Panthers' game against Iowa State last Tuesday.Â
However, the Cyclones dampened the Panthers' momentum as they jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and eventually secured an 8-3 victory. UNI received a blast from Pupillo, who moved into a tie for fourth place on UNI softball's all-time home run leaderboard, and Daryn Lamprecht but Iowa State's offense proved to be too much to overcome on a windy afternoon in Ames. Heyer was credited with the loss.Â
After a few days off, the Panthers made their highly-anticipated return to Robinson Dresser Sports Complex for a weather-adjusted weekend series against the Bears. The series began with a doubleheader on Friday, and the Panthers rode an offensive explosion to a 12-3 victory in Friday's first game. Kate Lappe hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning to open the scoring, and a six-run scoring explosion in the bottom of the fourth inning helped UNI blow the game open. Addison McElrath and Ava Smithson hit the Panthers' other home runs in the contest.Â
Missouri State returned the favor in the second game of Friday's doubleheader with an 11-5 victory against the Panthers to set up a decisive rubber match on Saturday. UNI ended up taking the series finale 6-2 behind a career-best day from Madison Parks. Parks went 4-for-4 and had a career-high four RBIs as the Panthers took the series.
Parks led the Panthers at the plate last week, posting an impressive .667 batting average across four appearances. In total, Parks went 8-for-12 with a team-high 6 RBIs, four runs scored, a home run and 11 total bases. She also recorded a .917 slugging percentage for the week and a team-high .714 on-base percentage. Parks remains among the top walk drawers in the country, with 32 for the season, and she ranks No. 3 nationally with 1.03 walks per game. She also enters the week with a five-game hitting streak.Â
Smithson recorded two multi-hit games last week, the first two of her Panther career, and is riding a three-game RBI streak into Tuesday's contest against the Bulldogs. Smithson is also riding a four-game hitting streak into this week's action. Pupillo, meanwhile, remains leading the conference in a variety of statistical categories. Entering Tuesday's game against Drake, Pupillo leads the MVC in home runs (12), home runs per game (0.39), RBIs (32), RBIs per game (1.03), slugging percentage (.814) and runs per game (0.94).Â
The Panthers begin this week's action against Drake, the first of three meetings between the sides over the next two weeks. The extended series begins on Tuesday in Des Moines, then the Bulldogs visit Robinson-Dresser Sports Complex for a game on April 16. Drake hosts the final game of the series on April 23. The Bulldogs are the most-played opponent in UNI softball history, and Tuesday will mark the 138th all-time meeting between the sides. UNI leads the all-time series 80-57 and won all three games against Drake last year.Â
Drake is 16-15 overall and 4-5 in MVC play. The Bulldogs participated in the Doc Halverson UNI-Dome Classic to begin the season and went 4-1 in the event, but did not face the Panthers. Molly Hoekstra leads the Bulldogs in the circle with four shutouts, and she boasts a 7-2 overall record and a 3.76 ERA. MaKayla Rice leads all of college softball with six triples, while Addie Lightner leads the Bulldogs with 19 RBIs. The Bulldogs took two of three games from Evansville over the weekend.Â
The Panthers then visit Bradley for a weekend series that begins at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. The Braves have a pair of mid-week games before hosting the Panthers, but Bradley enters this week with an 18-19 overall record and an 8-6 record in MVC play. Bradley hosted Southern Illinois last weekend, and the Salukis took two of three games in the series. Bradley hosts a doubleheader against Northern Illinois on Wednesday.Â
Bradley is led by Sydney Kennedy in the circle, who ranks No. 24 nationally and No. 2 in the MVC with four shutouts. Kennedy has 125 strikeouts, which also ranks No. 24 nationally and No. 3 in the MVC. Kennedy is 13-6 with a 1.89 ERA in 2024. As a team, Bradley's 2.71 ERA ranks No. 54 nationally. Â
The Braves have already surpassed their win total from last season, as Bradley went 15-40 and 7-20 in MVC play in 2024. The Panthers swept the Braves last season at Robinson-Dresser Sports Complex.
