University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Detroit Mercy
Panther softball heads back to Kentucky for the NKU Tournament
3/12/2026 3:14:00 PM | Softball
UNI softball (8-10 / 1-1 MVC) at NKU Tournament
- Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field | Highland Heights, Kentucky
- vs. Detroit Mercy | March 13 | 9:00 a.m.
- at Northern Kentucky | March 13 | 4:30 p.m.
- vs. Northwestern | March 14 | 12:30 p.m.
- at Northern Kentucky | March 14 | 3:00 p.m.
- at Northern Kentucky | March 13 | 10:00 a.m.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — UNI gets back into non-conference play on Friday at the NKU Tournament in Highland Heights, Kentucky. The Panthers will take on Detroit Mercy and Northern Kentucky on Friday, March 13, Northwestern and Northern Kentucky on Saturday, and Northern Kentucky on Sunday.
UNI is coming off a 1-1 weekend in Murray, Kentucky, against Murray State to open conference play. In Kentucky, Skylar Benesh batted .714 with five hits, five runs, and a home run in seven at-bats. Benesh slugged 1.571 with 11 total bases and four RBIs, including a double and a triple against the Racers. Morgan Vertz picked up the Panthers' lone win of the weekend with a 3.1-inning relief effort. The sophomore struck out three batters and allowed no runs in the effort.
The Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) announced its weekly softball awards on Tuesday morning. Skylar Benesh was named MVC Player of the Week, while Peyton Johnson was named MVC Newcomer of the Week. This is the third MVC weekly honor in Benesh's career, and the second Player of the Week honor, after receiving Freshman of the Week last season and Player of the Week earlier this season. For Johnson, this is the first Valley Weekly award of her career.
Skylar Benesh batted .714 in a doubleheader split with Murray State to open conference play, with five hits, five runs, and four RBIs in seven at-bats. Benesh recorded a double, a triple, and a home run in the two-game series with 11 total bases for a 1.571 slugging percentage. The sophomore second baseman recorded five putouts and six assists for a 1.000 fielding percentage. Benesh was 1-for-1 with runners in scoring position and 3-for-3 with runners on the base path. She was also 3-for-3 with two outs.
Peyton Johnson batted .500 in the two-game series with Murray State, with six hits, one run, and two RBIs in six at-bats and a walk. Johnson recorded six putouts for a 1.000 fielding percentage. The junior outfielder was 1-for-1 with runners in scoring position and 4-for-4 with success at advancing runners.
As of March 9, UNI leads the MVC in multiple statistical categories, including home runs (25), home runs per game (1.39), RBIs per game (6.00), total RBIs (108), scoring (6.22), slugging percentage (.547), and total runs (112). The Cats have the 23rd-most doubles per game (1.94) and 30th-most home runs per game in the nation. UNI is second in the Valley in batting average (.305), fewest hit batters (5), and on-base percentage (.410).
Individually, Skylar Benesh is 18th in the nation with .44 home runs per game and 19th in the nation with a Valley-leading 1.39 runs per game. Benesh leads the MVC with a .967 slugging percentage and is second in the league with a .475 batting average, eight home runs, .44 home runs per game, a .549 on-base percentage, and 59 total bases. Kate Lappe is second in the conference with a .891 slugging percentage and third in the league with seven home runs, .39 home runs per game, and 1.11 RBIs per game.
Six new faces grace the Panther roster, including two transfers and four freshmen. Kelsey Endress joins the Cats after a three-year career at Florida Atlantic, while Peyton Johnson spent a pair of seasons at Kirkwood Community College before transferring to UNI.
The Panthers return four All-Valley honorees from a season ago, including 2025 All-Defensive team honoree Ella Smithson and All-Conference honorees Kate Lappe, Skylar Benesh, and Anna Wischnowski. UNI also returns the Missouri Valley Conference MVP, Kate Lappe.
Kate Lappe is coming off a season that saw her finish the 2025 campaign with 61 hits, 34 runs, and 48 RBIs for a .433 batting average and a .915 slugging percentage. Her 19 home runs are tied for second on UNI's single-season home runs record list while her batting average and slugging percentage are second in each single-season category along with her .542 on-base percentage. Through the MVC Tournament, Lappe led the league in batting average, home runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and total bases and was second in home runs per game, RBIs, RBIs per game, and total walks. She was named MVC Player of the Week twice and D1Softball.com National Player of the Week once during the 2025 regular season.
Last season the Panthers broke three team records, including home runs (79), walks (244), and stolen bases (94). UNI was ninth in the nation last season with 1.58 home runs per game, 10th with 244 total walks, and 22nd with 94 total stolen bases.
Last season, UNI recorded 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 this season's conference opening weekend against Murray State, the Panthers have won 122 conference matchups in that span to just 35 MVC losses. Coach Jacobs is one conference victory 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.Â
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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 2026 schedule and roster, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.
