University of Northern Iowa Athletics
UNI softball wraps up a 21-game road stand at Illinois
3/24/2025 7:38:00 PM | Softball
UNI softball (17-8 / 6-0 MVC) at Illinois (13-15 / 1-4 Big Ten)
- Eichelberger Field | Champaign, Illinois
- March 25 | 5 p.m. CT
- B1G+
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The UNI softball team wraps up a 21-game road stand at Illinois on Tuesday, March 24 in Champaign, Illinois. The Panthers and the Fighting Illini will meet for the fourth time in program history. Illinois holds the all-time series with a record of 2-1 after a 9-0 Panther victory in five innings last season.
The Panthers are coming off a sweep of UIC this weekend which saw final scores of 7-1, 6-2, and 16-4. The 16 runs scored on Saturday were the most scored by the Panthers this season and the most scored by UNI since 19 runs were scored last season against Illinois State. The Panthers recorded seven home runs at UIC including two from Ava Smithson. 11 total extra-base hits were posted with four doubles. Ava Smithson and Kylee Sanders finished the weekend with .500+ averages and combined for 11 hits and 12 runs in 20 at-bats. Smithson finished with a 1.222 slugging percentage while Sanders finished with a .909.
Anna Wischnowski picked up a pair of wins in the circle and Carly Goodwin picked up one with the sweep. Wischnowski recorded her eighth and ninth victories of the season while Goodwin remains perfect on the season with a 4-0 record. Wischnowski finished the weekend with seven total strikeouts in one complete game and 12 innings.
Head coach Ryan Jacobs tied Meredith Bakley (UNI 1983-00) for the UNI coaching wins record of 514. Jacobs is in his 18th season at the Panther helm. UNI's victory over RV Omaha in game five of the 2025 Doc Halverson Classic was Jacobs' 500th victory. He 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.
As of March 24, the Panthers led the MVC in a number of statistical categories including home runs (34), home runs per game (1.36), on-base percentage (.393), RBIs per game (5.32), scoring (5.88), slugging percentage (.473), stolen bases per game (2.52), total stolen bases (63), and walks (119). The Panthers' 2.52 stolen bases per game are 11th in the nation while their 1.36 home runs per game are 21st and their 63 stolen bases are 23rd. The Cats are second in the Valley in fewest hit batters (8) and win/loss percentage (.680) and are third in batting average (.275), double plays (10), double plays per game (.40), doubles per game (1.20), hit by pitch (15), RBIs (133), and shutouts (3).
Kylee Sanders is sixth in the nation with an MVCleading 2.75 assists per game. The senior also leads the Valley in batting average (.455) and on-base percentage (.548) and is third in assists (66) and stolen bases (9).
Skylar Benesh leads the league on the base path with a .867 stolen base percentage, 13 total stolen bases, and 0.52 stolen bases per game. She is third in the Valley with 0.68 walks per game.
Katelyn Callahan leads the MVC with 0.74 walks per game.
Anna Wischnowski has been one of the top pitchers in the league this season and is third in the MVC in complete games (3), shutouts (2), and victories (9).
Addison McElrath is second in the MVC with 0.32 home runs per game and is third with eight total home runs and a .675 slugging percentage.
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 15 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.
