Over the weekend, on Friday, April 18 and Saturday, April 19, the UNI softball team played host to Southern Illinois. The teams played once on Friday, and played a doubleheader on Saturday. This was a big series for the Panthers, as the Salukis came into the series in first place in the Missouri Valley Conference, with an impressive 17-1 conference record. The Panthers came in with a 12-6 conference record, so while they could not get by them in the standings, it was an opportunity to shrink the gap. The Panthers took the first game of the series on Friday, before the teams split the doubleheader on Saturday.
On Friday, it was the Salukis getting on the board first, when Anna Carder hit a solo home run in the top of the first inning. The Panthers knotted it up in the bottom of the second inning, when Salukis pitcher Kaytee Dahltstrom struggled to find the strike zone and walked in a run. In the bottom of the third the Panthers got their first hits of the game, and made them count. Kate Lappe hit a two run homer, and Katelyn Callahan followed her up with a solo shot, making the score 4-1 in the Panthers favor. The Salukis hit right back, scoring four runs in the top of the fourth to tie the game back up. This was short lived, as another Panther home run, this time by Skylar Benesh, put the Panthers back out in front in the bottom of the fourth. The Salukis would tie it up once again in the sixth, but an Ava Smithson double in the bottom of the inning drove in Makenna Kuper. This run would be the winner, as Anna Wischnowski was able to keep the Salukis off the board with her pitching in the seventh.
The first game on Saturday, saw the Salukis get three runs in the top of the first inning, and Sanders hit a home run for the Panthers in the bottom. The score was 3-1, and in what became a pitcher’s duel, it would remain that way until the bottom of the seventh inning. In the seventh, Lappe hit a solo home run, and was immediately followed up by a game-tying home run from Callahan. This sent the game to extras, where the Salukis had an offensive explosion. They scored 9 runs in the top of the eighth, and the Panthers stood no chance to match that in the bottom. The Salukis took the second game of the series, 12-6.
The third game was for the series, and on the back of three home runs, one by Sanders, another by Lappe and a third from Ella Smithson, the Panthers had a 4-0 lead going into the fourth. The Salukis got a couple of runs back in the top of the forth and fifth innings, but in the bottom of the fifth, the Panthers tacked on four more of their own. The Panthers took the 8-2 lead into the seventh inning, and although it was a bit shaky, they pulled out the 8-6 victory.
The series improved the Panthers overall record to 26-15, and their conference record to 14-7. They sit in third place, with six conference games left to play. The Panthers will take the field next on Tuesday, April 22, when they play host to Iowa State.
