UNI Softball opened its series opener against Illinois State this past weekend in Normal, Illinois. In the first game of action, the Panthers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the second inning with a sacrifice fly from Skylar Benesh and a two-run single by Ava Smithson. The Redbirds responded with four runs in the third inning to take the lead at 4-3. Addison McElrath was able to tie the game at 4-4 with a home run.
Illinois State answered back in the bottom of the fourth with a run, but Benesh continued her performance with a two-run homer in the fifth, which scored Paige Pterson to give UNI the 6-5 advantage. The Redbirds answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take back the lead at 8-6. The sixth saw Kate Lappe lead off with a solo home run that was followed by a sacrifice from Benesh to score Ella Smithson and an RBI single from Kylee Sanders that also brought in Ava Smithson to put the Panthers ahead 9-8. The strong defense by Northern Iowa held off the Redbirds to secure the win in game one.
Game two saw Drew Hinrichs open early with a score off an RBI single to bring home Sanders, and Lappe followed with a three-run home run to score McElrath and Hinrichs to get a fast 4-0 lead. ISU responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the first, but Northern Iowa pulled away in the second with Peterson delivering an RBI single to score Ava Smithson, followed by a run-scoring single from McElrath. Sanders and Makenns Kuper both made it home on a Redbird error as Adalyn Reynolds scored on an RBI double from Katelyn Callahan.
A scoreless third inning from both teams saw UNI make their way out in the fourth as Lappe drove another run with a sacrifice fly, scoring Sanders, and to make the lead 10-3. The top of the sixth saw Callahan deliver a second RBI double that brought home Sanders and McElrath to trigger the eight-run rule. The Panthers came out on top in the end with a winning score of 12-4 in six innings.
The final game of the series saw Callahan get the Panthers on board with a two-RBI single at the top of the first inning that scored Sanders and McElrath. Lappe crossed the plate thanks to Ella Smithson to give the team a 3-0 lead. Illinois State went on to score four unanswered runs over the next four innings and also held a 4-3 lead going into the sixth inning of the game.
UNI was unable to get another run as ISU scored the walk-off winner in the bottom of the seventh inning to hand the Panthers their first MVC loss on the road this season. Lappe was the only Panther with multiple hits in the game as the junior recorded a pair in three of her at-bats.
