Panther softball looks to stay perfect in MVC play at UIC

UNI softball (14-8 / 3-0 MVC) at UIC (4-23 / 0-3 MVC)

Flames Field | Chicago, Illinois
March 21 | 2 & 5 p.m. CT
March 22 | 2 p.m. CT
ESPN+

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The UNI softball team continues conference play at UIC for the Panthers' 19th-21st consecutive contest away from home. The Panthers and the UIC Flames have met on 17 previous occasions with UNI holding a 14-3 lead in the all-time series. UNI picked up a series-sweep last season against UIC with scores of 6-3, 8-5, and 6-0. Coach Jacobs has not lost to UIC in his Panther career.

The Panthers are coming off a conference-opening sweep of the Evansville Purple Aces with scores of 7-2, 14-13, and 12-9. The 33 runs scored by the Panthers were the second-most in a conference opening weekend in head coach Ryan Jacobs' career. Included in the 33 were nine home runs with a pair of grand slams coming off the bats of Sykora Smith and Brynlee Slockett. The Panthers recorded 31 hits in 97 at-bats with 16 extra-base hits.

Anna Wischnowski picked up a pair of wins in the circle and Carly Goodwin picked up one with the sweep. Wischnowski recorded her sixth and seventh victories of the season while Goodwin remains perfect on the season with a 3-0 record. Wischnowski finished the weekend with nine total strikeouts in two complete games.

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 three wins short of tying Meredith Bakley (UNI 1983-00) for UNI's all-time coaching wins with 514.

As of March 19, the Panthers lead the MVC in a number of statistical categories including home runs per game (1.23), stolen bases per game (2.59), and total stolen bases (57). UNI is 11th in the nation with 2.26 stolen bases per game, 22nd with 57 total stolen bases, and 29th with 1.23 home runs per game. The Panthers are second in the Valley in home runs (27), on-base percentage (.380), RBIs per game (4.82), scoring (5.36), slugging percentage (.455), and win/loss percentage (.636) and third in doubles per game (1.18), shutouts (3), and walks (95).

Kylee Sanders leads the Valley with 2.71 assists per game, the ninth-best mark in the nation, and with a .526 on-base percentage. Sanders is second in the MVC with a .439 batting average and third with 57 assists and eight stolen bases.

Skylar Benesh leads the Valley on the base path with 12 total stolen bases, 0.55 stolen bases per game, and a .857 stolen base percentage. The freshman is also second in the MVC with 0.68.

Anna Wischnowski's two shutouts are second in the Valley while her seven complete games are third. Her 1.86 walks allowed per seven innings are fifth, and her 71.2 innings pitched are sixth.

Addison McElrath has the second-best mark for total home runs (7) and home runs per game (0.32).

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. After the weekend at Evansville, the Panthers have won 105 conference matchups in that span to just 26 MVC losses. Coach Jacobs is 18 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.

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.

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