March 14, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

THIS WEEK IN PANTHER SOFTBALL

March 15-16

 

Saturday:          vs. Southern Illinois (DH) 12:00/2:00 p.m.            

Sunday:            vs. Southern Illinois                    12:00 p.m.

Tuesday:           vs. Louisville                              3:00 p.m.

                       

The University of Northern Iowa softball team will open Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend as they travel to Carbondale, Ill. to take on Southern Illinois. The Salukis are 12-11 this season, including a 2-3 record last weekend in Hawaii.

 

Following the three-game series with the Salukis, the Panthers will travel further south to Louisville, Ky. to take on the University of Louisville. The Cardinals are currently 10-8 this season.

 

LEADING OFF

•   This weekend marks the first weekend of Missouri Valley Conference play. The Panthers were picked to finish tenth in the MVC preseason poll, while the Salukis were picked to finish third with 81 total points; four places behind second-place Wichita State.

 

•   Senior Stephanie Aguero leads the Panthers in batting average this season with a .434 average, ranking her second in the MVC. In 53 at-bats Aguero has notched 23 hits, including four doubles and two home runs.

 

•   Megan Machovec follows closely behind Aguero, ranking second on the team and third in the Valley with a .411 batting average.

 

•   Jen Larsen has been consistent at the plate for the Panthers early in the season and has drilled five home runs in the Panthers 19 games. Not only does she lead the Panthers in long-range bombs, but is tied for first in the Valley.

 

NEARING THE TOP

The Panthers rank in the top five in eight of the Valley's batting categories. UNI is in the top half of the Valley categories in: batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, hits, RBI, triples, home runs and walks.

 

MAKING THE MOST AT THE PLATE

The Panthers currently hold a .400 slugging percentage as a team, higher than their opponents .373. UNI also boasts four players in the top ten in the Valley slugging percentage category. Larsen ranks third (.685), Machovec eighth (.625), Aguero ninth (.623) and Keiper tenth (.619).

 

A STRONG EFFORT

In the Panthers' 1-0 win over Ball State the defense proved to be the difference maker. Ball State had runners in scoring position in the bottom of the fifth, sixth and seventh innings; but the Panthers defense held strong for the win.

 

DRIVING `EM HOME

Junior Crystal Keiper (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Jefferson) has made an instant impact on the Panther offense, uncorking a homer in her first outing in the Purple and Gold against Dayton (Feb. 9). The junior also connected again on a long-range bomb, this time helping the Panthers to a 7-2 advantage over South Dakota State (Feb.10). Keiper continued her hard-hitting efforts blasting a homer to help the Panthers top Minnesota, 6-4 (Feb. 15).

 

DRIVING HOME A WIN

Jen Larsen (Moline, Ill/Moline) hit her third career game-winning home run, to give the Panthers the 4-3 win over San Jose State (March 7). That marked Larsen's second game-winning home run of the season with her first coming in the 4-3 win over Western Illinois (Feb. 14). Larsen's first career game-winning home run was in the 2007 season when she sealed a Panther victory over North Dakota State with a walk-off homer.

 

STARTING HIS CAREER OFF RIGHT

This season marks the debut of Panther head coach Ryan Jacobs. Jacobs led the Panthers to a 7-2 start, the best start to a season since the 2002. Jacobs owns the second-best start to a season by a first-year Panther head coach since 1974, when Jane Mertesdorf started the season 8-1. That was UNI's first season of softball.

 

GOING THE DISTANCE

Sophomore pitcher Sarah Bakey (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) continues to go the distance for UNI in the circle. Bakey earned her second win of the 2008 season tossing complete game for the Panthers against Western Illinois (Feb. 14). Bakey allowed the Westerwinds just five hits in seven innings.

 

The week before against North Dakota (Feb.10), Bakey tossed the first complete-game shutout of her career. She allowed just three hits to a Fighting Sioux team that, in its previous game, had scored 14 runs on 14 hits, while also recording eight strikeouts.

 

CAREER FIRST

Megan Machovec (DeWitt, Iowa/Central) hit her first career home run against North Dakota (Feb. 10) as part of the Ramada UNI-Dome Classic. Machovec's inside-the-park homer plated a pair of runs to break the teams' scoreless deadlock in the bottom of the third inning.

 

YOU COMPLETE ME

Senior pitcher Ashley Lepley (Albia, Iowa/Albia) threw two complete games for the Panthers at the Ramada UNI-Dome Classic. In 14 innings, Lepley allowed only 11 hits and four earned runs.

 

DOME OPENER

For the second time as an NCAA Division I team and just the fourth time ever, the Panthers opened a season at home.  UNI has begun its season with a home game only four times in its 34-year history, with both the 1977 and 1978 campaigns commencing with a home date against Wartburg College, and the 2007 season beginning against North Dakota State in the UNI-Dome. 

 

The Ramada UNI-Dome Classic's games also marked the second consecutive season UNI softball played in the UNI-Dome. In the 11 seasons from 1987-1997, the Panthers hosted an annual tournament in the Dome under various names.  The facility also previously served as a backup site for regular-season games in the event that inclement weather made the outdoor surface at Panther Park unplayable.

 

A NEW HOME

Following the Panther's opening weekend in the UNI-Dome, the team will play its remaining home games at the new home of UNI Softball, Robinson-Dresser Sports Complex. The facility, located along West 12th Street just northwest of the UNI campus, replaces Panther Park, which had served as the Panthers' home field for 30 seasons, beginning with the 1978 campaign.

 

Robinson-Dresser boasts many of the amenties lacking at Panther Park, including a press box, permanent seating and on-site restrooms and concessions facilities. The Panthers will open their first season at Robinson-Dresser with a game against Evansville on March 21.

 

AN EXPERIENCED BATTERY

An experienced core of pitchers and catchers will likely determine how successful the Panthers can be in 2008. The Panthers return all four pitchers that saw action in the circle in 2007, including sophomores Jen Larsen and Sarah Bakey and seniors Ashley Lepley and Liz Adams.

 

Adding to the experience will be the return of two veteran catchers in junior Kelly Papesh and senior Heather Tarter. The duo combined to start all of UNI's 51 games a season ago, with Papesh starting 31 games before being sidelined near the end of the season after suffering a broken finger, leaving Tarter to serve as the Panthers' primary catcher.

 

THE OFFENSE RETURNS

Coming off one of the most productive offensive seasons in school history, UNI returns a majority of that output for the 2008 season. After losing only  three players, the Panthers look to continue their high offensive output. The Panthers return 86 percent of their home runs from last season, along with 87 percent of the RBIs, 85 percent of the hits and 82 percent of the runs from the 2007 season.

 

PANTHERS PICKED 10TH

UNI has been picked to finish 10th in the Missouri Valley Conference this season, according to the league's annual coaches poll released Wednesday. The Panthers garnered 13 votes to rank 10th, matching the team's position in last season's final standings. Creighton was the overwhelming favorite, earning nine of the 10 possible first-place votes. Wichita State, Southern Illinois, Illinois State and Missouri State round out the top five.

 

scouting the opponentS

Southern Illinois

•   The Salukis enter the weekend with a 12-11 record after playing in five pre-conference tournaments. Southern Illinois has faced four teams that are currently ranked in the top 25. The Salukis also boast the MVC Player of the Week for the week of  March 10 in Katie Wagner. Wagner hit 8-for-17 (.471) with three home runs and nine RBIs, five runs scored and a double at the Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament in Honolulu, Hawaii last weekend. SIU currently has the leagues best slugging percentage (.437), on-base percentage (.369), most RBI (105), home runs (17) and is tied with Evansville for the most stolen bases in the league (27).

 

  

Louisville

•           The Cardinals, prior to hosting the Lousivlle Invtational Tournament this coming weekend, are 10-8 this season. The Panthers will meet the Cardinals two days after the tournament at Ulmer Stadium in Louisville, Ky. U of L is batting .275 as a team with sophomore catcher Melissa Roth leading the way carrying a .473 batting average, 15 runs, 11 double and two triples. Freshman 3B Chelsea Bemis follows with a .393 average and leads the Cards with a .393 average and 17 RBI. Junior Kassie Stanfill (3-2) has a team-best 2.10 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 43.1 innings. She is holding opponents to a .201 batting average. Sophomore Kristen Wadwell (5-5) carries a 2.30 ERA with 54 K's in 67.0 innings of work. She is limiting opponents to a .207 batting average.