University of Northern Iowa
32-16
Evansville
16-36
UNI softball rolls past Evansville in MVC Tournament opener
5/9/2024 6:58:00 PM | Softball
Panthers draw eight walks and power past the Purple Aces in quarterfinal round. UNI takes on Belmont or Missouri State tomorrow afternoon.
NORMAL, Ill. --- Three multi-run innings helped lift the UNI softball team to an impressive quarterfinal win at the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Tournament on Thursday afternoon, downing the Evansville Purple Aces by a 12-3 score in five innings at Illinois State's Marian Kneer Stadium.
Northern Iowa captured an early 4-0 lead in the first inning before Evansville cut its lead down to one with a second inning, three-run home run. UNI would not look back, responding with three runs in the bottom of the second and five in the fourth.Â
Panther starting pitcher Samantha Heyer retired the first three Evansville batters of the game before Alexis Pupillo drew a one-out walk for UNI in the bottom of the first inning, followed by a steal of second base. After back-to-back walks by Addison McElrath and Kylee Sanders to load the bags, Taylor Hogan drove in the game's first run on an infield single back to the pitcher for an early 1-0 lead. The Panthers tacked on two more runs with Maggie Erpelding and Sanders scoring on a wild pitch by Purple Aces starting hurler Sydeny Weatherford, while Hogan came home as Ava Smithson was caught in a rundown between first and second for a 4-0 advantage.
Evansville would respond in the second frame with Hannah Hood reaching base on a lead-off walk and Taylor Howe infield single, setting up a three-run home run by Marah Wood to cut Northern Iowa's lead to one run. The Panthers would quickly bounce back with another productive inning as Daryn Lamprecht reached on a one-out walk, with the pinch runner Gretta Hartz stealing second and moving to third on a wild pitch. Madison Parks extended UNI's multi-run lead on a single to right-center, before Pupillo powered a home run deep to right-field to put the Panthers ahead 7-3.
After escaping a fourth inning walk by Howe and Niki Bode, the Northern Iowa offense kicked into high gear as Lamprecht and Parks notched consecutive singles before Pupillo loaded the bases with one out. Kate Lappe singled out of the reach of the Purple Aces shortstop to bring home Lamprecht, while Parks scored on a passed ball to stretch the lead to 9-3.
After a strikeout by McElrath and a Sanders walk to put runners at the corners, Megan Brenton entered the game to pitch for Evansville and immediately gave up an RBI single to score Lappe with Pupillo coming around to score on an error. Ava Smithson drew a walk, while Ellie Owen reached on an infield error to bring home Sanders to push the Panther lead to nine runs. Anna Wischnowski would enter the game in the top of fifth and retire the Aces' final three batters to lock down the win for UNI.
UNI improves its record to 32-16, while Evansville ends the 2024 season with a 16-36 mark.
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ADDITIONAL NOTES
- UNI improves to 52-28 all-time against Evansville with Thursday's win. The Panthers have won four straight against the Purple Aces dating back to last season, including ten of the last 11 meetings.
- The Panthers evened their MVC Tournament record against Evansville on Thursday at 3-3. UNI last matched up with the Purple Aces in the conference tournament in the 2013 championship game won by the Panthers, 2-1.
- Northern Iowa is now 38-48 all-time in MVC Tournament games.
- Thursday's victory marks the fifth straight season UNI has reached the semifinal round of the MVC Tournament (2019, 2021-24). The Panthers have made the title game in two of the last three years (2021, 2022).
- The Panthers are now 5-2 on the year in run-rule shortened games.
- UNI starting pitcher Samantha Heyer improved to 17-6 on the season after throwing four innings with three earned runs allowed, six strikeouts and three walks. Heyer's win is also the 54th of her career, moving her into sole possession of fifth on the program's all-time list.
- Alexis Pupillo recorded her 17th home run of the season, tying her for third-most in a single-season in school history. Her home run was also the 34th of her career.
- Pupillo surpassed 100 career RBIs on Thursday with her 51st and 52nd runs batted in to move her to fourth on the program's single-season list.
- Head coach Ryan Jacobs is now four wins shy of his 500th career victory.
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UP NEXT
The Panthers will take on the winner of Belmont and Missouri State in the second semifinal of the MVC Tournament tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. CT. Live coverage will be available on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Heyer, Samantha (17-6)
L: Weatherford, Sydney (8-10)
Batting:
HR: Wood, Marah 1
RBI: Wood, Marah 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Hood, Hannah 1 ; Howe, Taylor 1 ; Wood, Marah 1
Batting:
HR: Pupillo, Alexis 1
RBI: Parks, Madison 1 ; Pupillo, Alexis 2 ; Lappe, Kate 1 ; Hogan, Taylor 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Parks, Madison 2 ; Pupillo, Alexis 3 ; Lappe, Kate 1 ; Erpelding, Maggie 1 ; Sanders, Kylee 2 ; Hogan, Taylor 1 ; Lamprecht, Daryn 1 ; Hartz, Gretta 1
SB: Pupillo, Alexis 1 ; Hartz, Gretta 1
