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April 15, 2007

Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score | Photo Gallery 

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The University of Northern Iowa softball team broke out of its hitting slump in a big way Sunday, pounding out 11 hits on hits way to a 10-5 win over Wichita State and a split of its doubleheader with the Shockers.  Wichita State won the opener, 7-0.

After Shocker pitcher Margo Pruis tossed her second consecutive complete-game shutout of the Panthers in the opener, holding UNI (16-22, 3-8 Missouri Valley Conference) to just two hits, the Panthers' bats came alive in the nightcap to help snap the Shockers' season-high seven-game win streak.

Down 4-0, UNI finally got on the board in the third inning against reliever Britnee Barnett.  Megan Machovec (DeWitt, Iowa/Central) started the rally with a one-out single and then put herself in scoring position by stealing second.  A Shocker error then allowed Stephanie Aguero (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) to reach and brought Machovec home for the Panthers' first run. 

Jen Larsen (Moline, Ill./Moline) followed with an RBI single up the middle to cut Wichita State's lead to 4-2.

The Shockers answered with a run in the top of the fourth, however, and stretched the lead back to three runs. The advantage didn't last long, however.

Morgan Paulson (Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge) got things going in the Panthers' half of the fourth with a one-out single and then moved to third when Mandy Kumamoto (Torrance, Calif./West) legged out a bunt single.

The Panthers' attempt at a squeeze play was spoiled when pinch-runner Brittany Ruzicka (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Jefferson) was tagged out at the plate on a bunt by Heather Tarter (Fairbury, Ill./Prairie Central), but Kumamoto added a run by scoring on a passed ball to cut WSU's lead to 5-3.

Machovec then delivered her second hit of the game -- and third of the day -- to give the Panthers two base runners with two outs. Ashley Lepley (Albia, Iowa/Albia), the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week, then stepped in and handed the Panthers the lead with one swing, driving a three-run home run to left-center field.

The homer, Lepley's sixth of the season, gave the Panthers a 6-5 lead and put them ahead for good.

The Panthers had turned pitching duties over to reliever Sarah Bakey (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) in the fourth inning, and the freshman responded by holding the Shockers' potent lineup in check.  After surrendering a run in the fourth, Bakey held Wichita State scoreless over the final three frames on just two hits.

The Panther lineup gave Bakey plenty of breathing room anyway, adding a pair of runs in both the fifth and sixth innings.

Consecutive singles by Larsen and Rachel Gerking (Spirit Lake, Iowa/Spirit Lake) began the UNI threat in the fifth, and they then advanced to second and third on a sacrifice bunt by Kelly Papesh (Minooka, Ill./Minooka).  With a pair of runners in scoring position, Kumamoto delivered a two-RBI single that pushed the Panthers' advantage to 8-5.

Gerking then provided the Panthers' final two runs in the sixth frame, driving a powerful two-run homer to right field that also plated Aguero, who had walked.  The shot was Gerking's second homer of the season.

Gerking was one of five Panthers to record multiple-hit games, along with Machovec, Larsen, Paulson and Kumamoto. 

That marked a distinct change from the series' first two games, which saw Pruis have her way with the UNI lineup. She allowed the Panthers just five hits in 14 consecutive scoreless innings across the series' first two games, but UNI exacted a little revenge in the finale once Pruis entered in relief in the fourth inning.

The senior, who threw a total of 317 pitches in a span of 26 hours, allowed four earned runs on three walks and four UNI hits in the 2 1/3 innings she threw in game two.

Bakey's outstanding effort earned the freshman her first career win, as she improved to 1-2 for the season, while Barnett (4-4) was saddled with the loss for the Shockers (25-25, 11-7), who saw their nine-game win streak against the Panthers come to an end.

The Panthers hit the road for a pair of mid-week doubleheaders this week, beginning with a Missouri Valley Conference twinbill against Bradley on Tuesday and a pair of non-league games against Western Illinois on Wednesday. Tuesday's games begin at 3 p.m. in Peoria, Ill.