University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Illinois
Panthers head to Illinois to take on the Illini
3/23/2026 8:23:00 PM | Softball
UNI softball (14-12 / 3-2 MVC) at Illinois (8-23 / 0-6 MVC)
- Eichelberger Field | Champaign, Illinois
- March 24 | 5 p.m. CT
- ESPN+
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — UNI heads to Champaign, Illinois, for a midweek contest against the Illinois Fighting Illini on Tuesday, March 24. The series between the Panthers and the Illini is tied at two wins apiece, with UNI claiming the most recent victory last season. The Panthers put up four runs on a pair of home runs in the top of the fourth inning at Eichelberger Field last season, and two in the sixth, to force an extra-inning contest in Illinois. An Ava Smithson single in the top of the eighth inning drove in Adalyn Reynolds for the game-winning run. Kate Lappe had a pair of hits and a home run in four at-bats against the Fighting Illini last season, while Anna Wischnowski struck out four batters in a four-inning relief effort.
UNI is coming off a 2-1 series victory over Valparaiso last weekend. UNI dropped the weekend-opener, 4-3, on Saturday morning, before going back-to-back with a 13-0, six-inning victory in game two and an 11-6 win in game three. The Panthers drove in 26 total runs with seven home runs, a triple, and 10 doubles on the weekend.
Peyton Johnson had a dominant weekend at the plate with a .600 batting average. The junior outfielder recorded 6 hits and two runs in 10 at-bats and a walk. She drove in four runs and tallied eight total bases for a .800 slugging percentage.
Kate Lappe, Ava Smithson, and Sykora Smith all batted .556 on the week, with five hits in nine at-bats. In her first plate appearance of the season, because of an injury in the first inning of the season-opener, Ava Smithson bombed a solo home run to left field in the series opener. She finished with two home runs and a double on the weekend with four runs and five RBIs for a 1.333 slugging percentage. Lappe also hit a pair of home runs against the Beacons to go along with a triple and a double for 14 total bases and five RBIs, giving her a 1.556 slugging percentage on the weekend.
In the circle, Anna Wischnowski picked up a pair of wins in two appearances and one start. Wischnowski pitched 10 innings, including a six-inning complete game, her seventh complete game of the season. She struck out six batters on the weekend.
As of March 23, UNI leads the MVC in multiple statistical categories, including batting average (.319), doubles (49), doubles per game (1.88), hits (224), home runs (38), home runs per game (1.46), on-base percentage (.431), RBIs per game (6.62), total RBIs (172), scoring (7.27), slugging percentage (.556), total runs (189), total sacrifice flies (10), and walks (132). The Cats have the 22nd-most doubles per game, 24th-most runs scored per game, 25th-most walks per game, 27th-most RBIs per game, and 28th-best slugging percentage and home runs per game in the nation.
Individually, Kate Lappe leads the Valley with the nation's 18th-best slugging percentage (.987), 18th-most walks drawn per game (0.88), and 20th-best on-base percentage (.580). Lappe is second in the MVC with 10 home runs, 0.38 home runs per game, 30 RBIs, 1.15 RBIs per game, and 75 total bases. Her .447 batting average is third-best in the conference, along with 0.35 doubles per game and 1.04 runs per game.
Skylar Benesh leads the Valley with a .466 batting average, 41 hits, 1.23 runs per game and 78 total bases. The sophomore second baseman is second in the league with 10 home runs, 0.38 home runs per game, and a .886 slugging percentage, and is third in the conference with a .529 on-base percentage.
With two victories against the Beacons, Coach Jacobs moved up to No. 5 on the Valley's MVC wins list, passing Brent Vigness (CU, 1994-2013) with 282 Valley wins. Jacobs sits with 283 MVC victories and is one shy of Rich Calvert (DU, 2003-23) in the No. 4 spot with 284 league wins.
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, 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 UNI's series against Valparaiso, the Panthers have won 124 conference matchups in that span to just 36 MVC losses.
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 the weekend against Valparaiso, the Panthers have won 121 conference matchups in that span to just 34 MVC losses. Coach Jacobs is two 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.
Â
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.
