April 16, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

THIS WEEK IN PANTHER SOFTBALL

April 16-20

 

Thursday:        vs. Bradley                              4:00 p.m.

Saturday:         at Indiana State (DH)              12:00/2:00 p.m.

Sunday:           at Indiana State                       12:00 p.m.      

                       

The University of Northern Iowa softball team will host Bradley Thursday afternoon for the finale of a three-game season series with the Braves. The Panthers won the first two games in Peoria, Ill., 2-0, 6-2. Following the match-up with the Braves, the Panthers will head to Terre Haute, Ind., for a three-game series with Indiana State.

 

LEADING OFF

 

•   UNI clinched its second win over a Big Ten opponent this season with a 3-0 win over Wisconsin last Wednesday. Brittney Balduf registered the Panthers only hit of the contest, a three-run home run, to give the Panthers the win. UNI is 2-2 this season against Big Ten opponents, with wins over Minnesota and Wisconsin and losses to Iowa and Minnesota.

 

•   Senior Ashley Lepley lauched her third home run of the season against Missouri State last weekend. Lepley drilled a two-run homer to left field in the bottom of the fourth, putting the Panthers up 4-0.

 

•   Megan Machovec currently sits in fourth place in The Valley standings with a batting average of .366. The sophomore also sits in fourth place in hits (41) and is tied for third in triples (3). Machovec leads the Panthers in runs (22), hits (41), stolen bases (6) and triples (3).

 

•   Jen Larsen has been consistent at the plate for the Panthers this season connecting for 29 hits while drilling six home runs. Larsen leads the Panthers in home runs (6) and RBIs (26) and sits in second place in doubles (5).

 

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

Bradley

•   The Braves enter Thursday's game with an 11-19 overall record and 3-11 mark in MVC play. The Panthers earned two wins over the Braves earlier this season (Apr. 2) 2-0, and 6-2 in Peoria. Amanda Clack leads the way for the Braves at the plate, registering 28 hits, including seven doubles and seven home runs, while scoring 16 runs and driving in 22 others. Ashley Birdsong serves as the Braves primary pitcher, tossing 128 innings this season. Birdsong has allowed 120 hits and 69 runs, while throwing 151 strikeouts.

 

Indiana State

•   The Sycamores are currently 13-20-1 overall and 4-9 in Valley play. Leading the way at the plate for they Sycamores is Meredith Simpson. Simpson is batting .323 this season, registering 31 hits and driving in 21 runs. Meagan McCurdy leads the way in the circle for the Sycamores with a 2.99 ERA in 100.2 innings of work.

 

SHUT `EM OUT

In the Panthers' two contests last week against Wisconsin and Missouri State, UNI allowed zero runs and just eight hits. The Panthers have tossed six shutouts this season, with shutout wins over North Dakota, Arkansas, Ball State, Bradley, Wisconsin and Missouri State.

 

TO THE FINISH

The pitching duo of Ashley Lepley and Jen Larsen have both tossed seven complete games for the Panthers this season. The two have combined to throw 184.1 of the Panthers' 241.2 innings this season.

 

FIRST ROUND-TRIP

Freshman Michelle Phillips connected for her first home run in the Purple and Gold in the Panthers' conference game against Creighton (3/29). Phillips went 2-for-3 at the plate in the game; including two runs, two RBIs and a double.

 

ENDING THE STREAK

UNI snapped Nebraska's 44-game winning streak in home non-conference games as they took a 2-1 win over the Huskers in game one of the doubleheader contest March 30. In the process, UNI earned its first win over the Huskers since 1994 to break a seven-game losing streak to Nebraska. The win was just UNI's second victory in 16 attempts against the Huskers.

 

MAKING AN IMPACT

The Panthers six underclassmen have made their impact on stat books for the Panthers this season. The six have combined for 113 of the Panthers 236 hits (48 percent), 56 of the 132 runs (43 percent), 55 of the 127 RBIs (43 percent), 14 of the 33 doubles (42 percent), three of the seven triples (43 percent) and nine of the 21 home runs (43 percent).

 

The sophomore duo of Larsen and Sarah Bakey have contributed greatly in the circle for the Panthers, together tossing 141.0 of the Panthers 241.2 innings. They have also combined for 59 of the team's 118 strikeouts.

 

TOP OF THE ORDER

Megan Machovec has been consistently strong at the top of the order for the Panthers this season. The sophomore leads the team with a .366 batting average. Machovec has connected for a team-high 41 hits, including four doubles, three triples and one home run. Machovec also leads the team in stolen bases (six). In the final game of the series with Drake (April 6) Machovec finished the game three-for-three with a double and two RBIs.

 

SEND `EM HOME

Jen Larsen currently leads the Panthers with 26 RBIs in the Panthers 36 games this season, including six multiple-RBI games. That puts her in thirdplace in the Valley. Larsen has registered 29 hits, including five doubles and six home runs.

 

NEARING THE TOP

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

 

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).

 

STARTING `EM ALL

Senior Stephanie Aguero has started all 185 games of her four-year career for the Panthers. Aguero is the lone Panther to start in all of the team's 36 games this season.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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 doubleheader against Iowa State on March 26.

 

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.