University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Evansville
Panther softball opens Valley play at Evansville
3/13/2025 7:16:00 PM | Softball
UNI softball (11-8 / 0-0 MVC) at Evansville (14-11 / 0-0 MVC)
- James & Dorthy Cooper Stadium | Evansville, Indiana
- March 14 | 2 & 5 p.m. CT
- March 16 | 12 p.m. CT
- ESPN+
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The UNI softball team opens conference play at Evansville on March 14 with a three-game series against the Purple Aces. The Panthers and the Purple Aces of Evansville have met on 80 previous occasions with UNI holding a firm 52-28 lead in the all-time series. When these teams last season, UNI took home a 12-3 victory in the quarterfinals of the MVC Tournament. These teams met for a three-game series in the 2023 regular season which saw UNI take all three games by final scores of 8-0, 8-0, and 9-1 all in five innings.
The Panthers are coming off a 1-3 weekend at the Big Red Spring Fling. That Panthers wrapped up the non-conference portion of their season with a loss to #19 Nebraska 14-1 (5 Inn.), a loss to South Dakota State 6-1, a win over Northern Colorado 6-2, and a second loss to #19 Nebraska 9-1 (5 Inn.). Kylee Sanders led the Panthers with four hits over the weekend and a .400 batting average. UNI hit three homeruns in the Big Red Spring Fling with one coming off the bat of each Addison McElrath, Brynlee Slockett, and Ava Smithson. Smithson finished with a team-high three RBIs over the tournament.
Carly Goodwin picked up the Panthers' lone victory of the weekend. She improved to 2-0 in her Panther career with the win over Northern Colorado. The seven-inning outing was the first complete game of her career. The freshman pitched a total of eight innings in her two appearances in the circle, striking out eight batters.
UNI's victory over RV Omaha in game five of the 2025 Doc Halverson Classic was UNI head coach Ryan Jacobs' 500th victory. Jacobs became the eighth head coach in MVC history and the second in UNI history to eclipse the 500-win mark. After the weekend at Lipscomb, Jacobs passed Gwen Lewis (Evansville, 1992-2009) for seventh place on the MVC's all-time coaching wins list. Jacobs is just six wins short of tying Meredith Bakley (UNI 1983-00) for UNI's all-time coaching wins with 514.
As of March 11, the Panthers lead the MVC in a number of statistical categories including fewest hit batters (4), stolen bases per game (2.26), and total stolen bases (43). UNI is 12th in the nation in fewest hit batters with four and 20th in the nation with 2.26 stolen bases per game. UNI is second in the Valley in home runs per game (0.95), shutouts (3), slugging percentage (.418), and win/loss percentage (.579) and third in double plays per game (0.37), home runs (18), on-base percentage (.368), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.20), WHIP (1.50), and walks (76). Kylee Sanders leads the Valley with 2.78 assists per game, the fifth-best mark in the nation. Sanders is second in the MV with a .446 batting average and third with 50 assists and a .516 on-base percentage. Skylar Benesh has stolen a Valley-high nine bases this season with 0.47 stolen bases per game, also a Valley-high. Makenna Kuper is second in the MVC with 0.44 stolen bases per game and third in the Valley with seven total stolen bases. Anna Wischnowski's two shutouts are second in the Valley while her five complete games are third, her 1.58 walks allowed are fourth, and her 57.2 innings pitched and 2.31 ERA are fifth. Addison McElrath has the third-best slugging percentage in the conference (.691) and the fourth-best mark for total home runs (6), home runs per game (0.32), and walks per game (0.63).Â
UNI is looking for its sixth-straight season (excluding COVID-19 2020 season) at .500 or better in conference play as well as top three in the league. The Panthers have won 102 conference matchups in that span to just 26 MVC losses. Coach Jacobs is 21 conference victories away from moving up to no. 5 on the Valley's all-time MVC wins chart which is now occupied by Brent Vigness (CU, 1994-2013) with 282 Valley victories.
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UNI softball action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Softball), X (@UNISoftball), and on Instagram (@unisoftball). The 2025 schedule and roster, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.
