May 1, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

THIS WEEKEND IN PANTHER SOFTBALL

May 3-4

 

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

Sunday:            vs, Illinois State                         12:00 p.m.

                       

The University of Northern Iowa softball team will wrap up the 2008 regular season this weekend with a three-game homestand against Illinois State. The Panthers will play a doubleheader Saturday beginning at noon. and then a single game Sunday, also beginning at noon. UNI will honor its four graduating seniors following Sunday's game.

 

LEADING OFF

 

•   Sunday's contest will mark the last game in the Purple and Gold for UNI's four graduating seniors. Liz Adams, Stephanie Aguero, Ashley Lepley and Heather Tarter will all be honored following Sunday's game against Illinois State.

 

•   Megan Machovec currently sits in fifth place in The Valley standings with a batting average of .366. The sophomore also sits tied for second place in The Valley in triples (4) and is tied for fifth in hits (52). Machovec leads the Panthers in runs (29), hits (52), stolen bases (8) and triples (4).

 

•   Jen Larsen has been consistent at the plate for the Panthers this season, connecting for 40 hits while drilling seven home runs. Larsen also leads the way for the Panthers in the circle, tossing 124.2 innings and 10 complete games, including two shutouts.

 

•   Senior Stephanie Aguero has proven to be a leader by example this season at the plate for the Panthers. Aguero sits second in the team with a .362 batting average, while connecting for 50 hits, 11 doubles, five home runs, 29 RBIs and 25 runs scored.

 

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT

Illinois State

•   The Redbirds enter this weekend's contest with an overall record of 26-18 and an even 15-6 record in Missouri Valley Conference play. The Redbirds currently sit in second place in The Valley standings.

 

    The Redbirds are led at the plate by sophomore third basemen Kara Nelson. Nelson has recorded a team-high 55 hits, including nine doubles, six triples and two home runs. Nelson has driven in 19 RBI while scoring 34 runs. Nelson also leads the team in stolen bases with eight.

 

    Amber Smith serves as the Redbirds' primary pitcher, tossing 140.1 innings in 30 apperances. Smith has a 13-7 record in the circle, with nine complete games and three shutouts along with a 2.14 ERA. Smith has allowed opposing teams just 120 hits and 43 earned runs while striking out 97.

 

ONE HIT WONDER

UNI clinched its second win over a Big Ten opponent this season with a 3-0 win over Wisconsin (April 9). Brittney Balduf registered the Panthers only hit of the contest, a three-run home run, to give the Panthers the win.

 

DOUBLE TIME

Stephanie Aguero connected for three doubles in the Panthers three games against Indiana State (April 19-20), while fellow Panther Crystal Keiper drilled two. Keiper registered both her extra-base hits in the second game against the Sycamores while Aguero drilled a double in each of the three contests over the weekend. Aguero leads the team and sits second in The Valley with 11 doubles this season. Keiper has connected for seven doubles in the Panthers 39 games this season.

 

BIG TEN VS. UNI

UNI is 2-3 this season against Big Ten opponents, with wins over Minnesota and Wisconsin and losses to Iowa (two) and Minnesota. Both the Panthers losses to Iowa have come by just one run. In fact, all three of the Panthers losses to Big Ten opponents have been by one run. The Panthers topped Minnesota 6-4 (Feb. 15) before falling to Iowa 1-0 (Feb. 16). UNI met Minnesota two weeks later at the UT-Martin Classic, this time falling to the Gophers 1-0. UNI earned its second win over a Big Ten opponent April 9 against Wisconsin, 3-0. The final loss to a Big Ten opponent came April 23 at Iowa by a score of 5-4.

 

SHUT `EM OUT

In the Panthers' two contests against Wisconsin (April 9) and Missouri State (Apr. 13), UNI allowed zero runs and just eight hits. The Panthers have tossed seven shutouts this season, with shutout wins over North Dakota, Arkansas, Ball State, Bradley, Wisconsin, Missouri State and North Dakota State.

 

FIRST ROUND-TRIP

Freshman Michelle Phillips connected for her first home run in the Purple and Gold in the Panthers' conference game against Creighton (March 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 143 of the Panthers 302 hits (47 percent), 69 of the 159 runs (43 percent), 62 of the 152 RBIs (41 percent), 14 of the 41 doubles (34 percent), four of the eight triples (50 percent) and 10 of the 24 home runs (42 percent).

 

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 52 hits, including four doubles, four triples and one home run. Machovec also leads the team in stolen bases (eight). In the final game of the series with Drake (April 6) Machovec finished the game three-for-three with a double and two RBIs.

 

TO THE FINISH

The pitching duo of Ashley Lepley and Jen Larsen have proven their pitching endurance this season. Both Lepley and Larsen have pitched ten complete games for the Panthers this season. The two have combined to throw 235.1 of the Panthers' 298.2 innings this season.

 

SEND `EM HOME

Jen Larsen currently leads the team with 31 RBIs in the Panthers 45 games this season, including seven multiple-RBI games. Larsen has registered 40 hits, including five doubles and seven 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 194 games of her four-year career for the Panthers. Aguero is the lone Panther to start in all of the team's 42 games this season.

 

DRIVING HOME A WIN

Jen Larsen (Moline, Ill/Moline) has connected for four career game-winning home runs in just two years as a Panther, three coming in the 2008 season. Larsen connected for her seventh round-tripper of the season in the Panthers 4-1 win over North Dakota State (April 22). Larsen has connected for game wining home runs in the Panthers previous wins over San Jose State (March 7), 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 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.