Panthers softball loses doubleheader to Indiana State

Micalla+Rettinger+gets+ready+for+the+pitch.+The+Panthers+are+now+4-4+in+Missouri+Valley+Conference+play.

NORTHERN IOWAN ARCHIVES

Micalla Rettinger gets ready for the pitch. The Panthers are now 4-4 in Missouri Valley Conference play.

DYLAN PADY, Sports Editor | [email protected]

The UNI women’s softball team took on Indiana State Sycamores this weekend. Their first matchup was set to take place on Saturday but due to a very windy day in Cedar Falls, the doubleheader was moved to Sunday afternoon.

The Panthers lost their first game to the Sycamores 11-7. Indiana State scored early with four runs in the first inning.

Caitlin Wnek stepped up to bat in the bottom of the first inning and put the ball just far enough from the Indiana fielder. She made it to second base as well as brining Micalla Rettinger back home for the first point on the board for UNI.

Later in the third inning, Wnek approached the plate again and sailed the ball into far right field for her third homerun of the season. Rettinger also scored during the homerun.

The Panthers were still in the game down 4-3 after the fourth. But Indiana State’s Alexa Cavin scored a three-run homerun within the fifth to ignite a seven-point stretch between the fifth and sixth innings.

Brooke Craig and Wnek led the Panthers with three RBI’s.

The Panthers lost their second game, with a larger deficit of 11-2.

UNI had the first runs of the game in the bottom of the third inning. Bailey Lange hit a triple that gave Kate Kinnetz the go to home base.

Shortly after her triple, Lange then followed with a score off an illegal pitch by Indiana’s Bailey Benefiel.

While the Panthers managed to keep the 2-0 lead through three innings, the Sycamores took control of the game at the start of the fourth.

The Sycamores used the last four innings to score eleven runs in their victory.

These two games put the Panthers at a record of 24-11 and 4-4 in conference games. They look to play Iowa State on April 6, followed by a doubleheader on the road against Bradley University on April 9 and April 10.