March 25, 2006
Box Score
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Runs were hard to come by for the University of Northern Iowa softball team on Saturday, as the Panthers dropped a doubleheader to Missouri State in their first home Missouri Valley Conference games of the season.
The Bears (20-9, 5-0 MVC) scored six runs over the final four innings of game one to secure a 7-1 victory and then rode a strong outing from pitcher Melissa Porche to a 7-0 win in the nightcap. For the day, Missouri State out-hit the Panthers 21-10.
Nikki Ferden (Eldridge, Iowa/North Scott) scored the Panthers' only run of the day in the sixth inning of the opener, crossing home on an RBI single by Morgan Paulson (Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge). Paulson finished game one 3-for-3 at the plate, while Ferden provided UNI's only other hits of the contest.
After putting up a single run in the top of the first, the Bears added a pair of runs in each the fourth, sixth and seventh frames to take the win. Monica Wright (Morrison, Ill./Morrison) was saddled with the pitching loss, while Shannon Buslepp earned the complete-game win for Missouri State.
The Bears jumped out early again in game two, scoring twice in the opening frame and once more in the second inning while Porche worked over the Panthers' lineup, striking out 11 batters and allowing just five hits on her way to the win. Missouri State added a run in the fourth, two in the fifth and a final marker in the seventh to provide the winning margin.
Freshman Brittany Ruzicka (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Jefferson) went 2-for-2 at the plate for UNI, with Paulson, Jamie Kelling (Davenport, Iowa/West) and Stephanie Aguero (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) also tallying hits. Senior Uju Ibekwe (South Holland, Ill./Thornwood) took the pitching loss for the Panthers, who fell to 8-18-1 on the season and 0-5 in MVC play.
The two squads meet for the weekend series' final game Sunday, with the first pitch scheduled for noon at Panther Park.
