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March 26, 2006

Box Score

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The longball was on display Sunday, as the University of Northern Iowa softball team and Missouri State combined for five home runs in a game that saw the Bears escape with a 10-6 win on a blustery day at Panther Park.

UNI freshman Stefaney Shalla (Kalona, Iowa/Mid-Prairie) went deep twice for the Panthers, driving in four runs from her ninth spot in the batting order.  The Panthers out-hit Missouri State 11-10, but three homers by the Bears provided five runs that proved to be the difference.

Starting pitcher Samantha Fleeman knocked MSU's first homer, a two-run shot, in the top of the first inning and was followed three batters later by another two-run home run to left field, this one off the bat of Jessica Smith to give the Bears an early 4-0 lead.  MSU tacked on another run in the second inning, but UNI battled back with three runs in the bottom of the frame to keep things close.

All three of those runs came off the bat of Shalla, who stroked the first home run of her collegiate career over the left field fence to plate herself, Uju Ibekwe (South Holland, Ill./Thornwood) and Stephanie Aguero (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine).  Shalla sent her second shot out of the park in the fourth, a solo homer that began a three-run inning for UNI. 

Nikki Ferden (Eldridge, Iowa/North Scott) then stroked a single to score Jamie Kelling (Davenport, Iowa/West), who had reached with an infield hit, and Aguero provided an RBI groundout to bring Brittany Ruzicka (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Jefferson) across.  Ferden finished with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate, while Ruzicka went 2-for-4 with a run scored.

The fourth-inning effort trimmed the Bears' lead to one run at 7-6, but Missouri State added a marker in the top of the fifth and two more in the sixth to hold on for the win and improve to 21-9 overall and 6-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play.

Melissa Porche improved her season record to 8-3 with the pitching win, while UNI's Monica Wright (Morrison, Ill./Morrison) saw her season mark dip to 5-11.  The Panthers' record fell to 8-19-1 overall, 0-6 in MVC competition.

UNI now embarks on a four-day swing through Nebraska, where the Panthers will face No. 17 Nebraska on Thursday in Lincoln before tackling a three-game weekend series with conference foe Creighton in Omaha on Saturday and Sunday.