University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Nebraska
UNI softball wraps up non-conference play at Nebraska’s Big Red Spring Fling
3/7/2025 2:41:00 PM | Softball
UNI softball (10-5 / 0-0 MVC) at the Big Red Spring Fling
- Bowlin Stadium | Lincoln, Nebraska
- at #19 Nebraska | March 8 | 11 a.m.
- vs. South Dakota State | March 8 | 4 p.m.
- vs. Northern Colorado | March 9 | 11 a.m.
- at #19 Nebraska | March 9 | 4 p.m.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The Panthers wrap up the non-conference schedule at Nebraska's Big Red Spring Fling on Saturday and Sunday, March 8-9. The Panthers are coming off a 3-2 weekend at the 2025 Purple/Gold Challenge hosted by Lipscomb last weekend. In that tournament, The Panthers picked up an eight-inning, 2-1 victory over Ohio and a 9-6 victory over Lipscomb on Friday before picking up a 7-5 victory over Ball State on Sunday. UNI also competed at Wofford earlier last week. In that matchup, UNI took home an 8-5 victory in nine innings.
Both Anna Wischnowski and Morgan Vertz picked up victories in the five games. The victory for Wischnowski gave her five on the season while Vertz picked up the third and fourth wins of her collegiate career.
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 seven wins short of tying Meredith Bakley (UNI 1983-00) for UNI's all-time coaching wins with 514.
The Panthers will face Nebraska, South Dakota State, and Northern Colorado as part of the Big Red Spring Fling. This will be the 28th and 29th overall meetings between the Panthers and the Huskers with Nebraska holding a 22-5 advantage on the all-time series. The meeting on Saturday will be the 20th meeting with South Dakota State with UNI holding a 14-5 advantage and the ninth all-time against Northern Colorado, a series that is tied 4-4.
The last time UNI has met any of the three was last season when the Panthers met Nebraska at the Razorback Rumble hosted by Arkansas. The then RV Nebraska Huskers finished with a 13-3 victory over UNI. The Panthers and the Jackrabbits met last in the 2022 Doc Halverson UNI-Dome Classic in a pair of victories for SDSU while UNI matched up with Northern Colorado in the shortened 2020 season at the Northern Colorado Tournament. The Bears came out on top in that matchup by a 4-2 final score.
As of March 5, the Panthers lead the MVC in a number of statistical categories including stolen bases per game (2.53), total stolen bases (38), and win/loss percentage (.667). UNI's 2.53 stolen bases per game is the nation's 13th-best mark. The Panthers are second in the Valley in ERA (2.96), fewest hit batters (4), home runs per game (1.00), on-base percentage (.388), RBIs per game (4.53), scoring (5.07), shutouts (3), slugging percentage (.427), WHIP (1.36), and walks (69). UNI is third in the league in batting average (.277), fielding percentage (.964), home runs (15), and strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.37).
Kylee Sanders is first in the Valley with 2.79 assists per game, the nation's ninth-best mark. She is also second in the Valley with a .457 batting average and third in assists (39), doubles per game (0.36), and on-base percentage (.528).
Makenna Kuper leads the conference with a .857 stolen base percentage. She is second in the conference with six total stolen bases and 0.50 stolen bases per game. Ahead of her, the conference leader in total stolen bases, is Skylar Benesh with nine stolen bases and an MVC-leading 0.60 stolen bases per game. Benesh is second in the league with a .818 stolen base percentage.
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.
