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March 9, 2007

Box Score

SUNNYVALE, Calif. - The University of Northern Iowa softball team breezed to a win in the opener of the National Invitational Softball Tournament, pounding out a 14-2 victory over Santa Clara on Friday at Twin Creeks Sports Complex.

The Panthers capitalized on seven Santa Clara errors with 12 hits to build a dominant, 12-1 lead after three innings.  Five UNI players drove in two runs each to lead the Panthers: Morgan Paulson (Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge), Jen Larsen (Moline, Ill./Moline), Stephanie Aguero (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine), Rachel Gerking (Spirit Lake, Iowa/Spirit Lake) and Kelly Papesh (Minooka, Ill./Minooka).

Gerking went 3-for-4 at the plate, while Larsen went 2-for-3 with four runs scored and junior Ashley Lepley (Albia, Iowa/Albia) also went 2-for-3, scoring three times.  Aguero finished 2-for-2 with a run scored.

A pair of defensive miscues by the Broncos allowed UNI to jump out to a 4-0 lead after the first inning. A pair of unearned runs preceded a two-RBI single by Papesh that plated Aguero and Larsen.

The Broncos got on the board in the bottom half of the frame, with Meghan Chavez lining a two-out single up the middle to plate Nori Kamada, who had reached on a fielder's choice.

Lepley led off the second for the Panthers with a walk and her second stolen base of the game and then pushed UNI's lead to 5-1 when she scored from third on a passed ball.  After Paulson reached on an error and Larsen drew a walk, Aguero bumped the Panthers' advantage to 7-1 with a double deep to right-center that plated both Paulson and Larsen.

Link led off the Panthers' third inning by reaching on a Bronco error, stealing second and then advancing to third on a wild pitch.  She crossed to make it 8-1 UNI as Machovec reached on a throwing error after a dropped third strike.  The Panthers scored four more times in the frame to make it 12-1 after 2 1/2 innings, with Larsen and Gerking each driving in a run and Paulson driving in a pair.

Three consecutive singles to open the bottom of the third allowed the Broncos to load the bases with no one out, but Larsen, at pitcher, fielded a grounder by Chavez and went for the force out at home to Papesh, who then fired to first to retire Chavez in a 1-2-3 double play.  Another groundout to Larsen allowed UNI to escape the inning unscathed.

The Panthers added another pair of runs in the top of the fifth to make the score 14-1 UNI, with Mandy Kumamoto (Torrance, Calif./West) scoring from third when the Broncos' attempt to throw out Larsen at second sailed into center field and Gerking then driving in Larsen with an RBI single.

Kamada added the Broncos' second run on a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the fifth, but it was all the offense Santa Clara would add before the game was called in the fifth.

Larsen earned the win for the Panthers to improve to 5-3 on the year, while Santa Clara's Sara Overmier dropped to 0-1 with the loss.

The Panthers, now 9-6 on the season, face host San Jose State in their second contest of the day, which is set to begin around 5:30 p.m.