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Feb. 10, 2007

Box Score |  Photo Gallery 

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Stefaney Shalla blasted a three-run, walk-off home run to power the University of Northern Iowa softball team to a 4-3 win over South Dakota State in the second game of the Ramada Inn UNI-Dome Invitational on Saturday.

With the Panthers trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh, Shalla took a pitch and drove it over the left field fence to plate Brittany Ruzicka and Megan Machovec, who each singled to reach base.

The homer helped the Panthers overcome three clutch extra-base hits by South Dakota State that nearly combined to win things for the Jackrabbits.

The Panthers jumped on the board in the third inning after loading the bases with no outs. Mandy Kumamoto (Torrance, Calif./West), who led off the frame with a single, scored the opening tally on an RBI single by Brittany Ruzicka (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Jefferson).

 The Panthers could not manage to push another run across, however, and the score remained the same through the top of the fifth, when Brittany Postma drove in Jessica Vineyard to knot the score at 1-1. Vineyard, who led off the inning for the Jackrabbits with a double, was pushed across on Postma's RBI groundout.

The Jacks grabbed a 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth, when Teresa Howell drove a single down the first base line to plate Dani Broshar, who reached second on a ground-rule double over the left field fence.  SDSU added another tally in the seventh, when Brittany Postma followed up a triple by sister Brooke Postma with a double to right-center field to bring Brooke across. The back-to-back extra-base hits pushed the Jacks' lead to 3-1.

Ashley Lepley (Albia, Iowa/Albia) picked up the win, the first of her UNI career, in relief of Sarah Bakey (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) and Jen Larsen (Moline, Ill./Moline).  Larsen was strong in the early going, giving up just a single run on six hits over 4 1/3 innings pitched while striking out four.

Kim Westendorf went the distance for the Jacks but was saddled with the loss after giving up Shalla's homer.

Ruzicka capped a 6-for-8 effort on the Panthers' opening day by 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored against the Jacks.  In all, six Panthers recorded hits for the game.

The Panthers improved to 1-1 on the young season, while South Dakota State dropped to 0-1.  UNI next faces Northern Illinois at 4 p.m. Sunday in the UNI-Dome before closing out its home invitational against Drake at 6 p.m.  The Jackrabbits face Northern Illinois Saturday evening before matching up with North Dakota State and Drake on Sunday.