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April 17, 2007

Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

PEORIA, Ill. -- A school-record five home runs powered the University of Northern Iowa softball team to a 9-5 win in the opener of a Missouri Valley Conference doubleheader with Bradley on Tuesday, before the Braves answered with a 12-4 win in six innings in the nightcap.

A seven-run second inning highlighted by four home runs propelled the Panthers (17-23, 4-9 MVC), who pounded out 12 hits, to victory in the opener, but the Braves (20-15, 5-9) responded in game two with seven runs over the first two frames to earn the split.

The Panthers jumped on the board with four home runs in the second inning of game one, as Morgan Paulson (Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge) launched a solo homer to center field and Kelly Papesh (Minooka, Ill./Minooka) followed one batter later with another solo shot to left-center.

After Mandy Kumamoto (Torrance, Calif./West) doubled, Heather Tarter (Fairbury, Ill./Prairie Central) followed with her first career home run, a two-run shot off the right-field foul pole, to push UNI's lead to 4-0. Megan Machovec (DeWitt, Iowa/Central) reached after being hit by a pitch, setting up Ashley Lepley (Albia, Iowa/Albia) for her seventh homer of the season, a two-run bomb to left.

Jen Larsen (Moline, Ill./Moline) followed with a single and advanced to second on a base hit by Stephanie Aguero (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine).  Both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Rachel Gerking (Spirit Lake, Iowa/Spirit Lake), setting up Larsen to score the Panthers' seventh run of the inning on a wild pitch by reliever Rebecca Bishop.

The seven runs scored were the most by the Panthers in an inning this season, and they surpassed their season high for homers in a game with a school-record five.  UNI has now recorded at least four homers in a contest three times this season and has recorded a total of seven multi-homer games.

Bishop then took control, however, retiring the next 12 hitters she faced before Kumamoto drove a single to center field in the sixth inning. 

The Braves finally cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth, as Stephanie Ramsey drove a three-run homer over the left-field fence.  Larsen had held Bradley scoreless on seven hits through the game's first 5 2/3 innings.

Lepley countered with a homer of her own - her second of the game - in the seventh inning to push UNI's lead to 8-3.  A two-out RBI single by Morgan Paulson, which scored Larsen from second, increased the cushion to 9-3.

Lepley finished the game 3-for-4 with three runs batted in, while Paulson was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and two more driven in.

Pinch-hitter Sara Loete cut the UNI lead to 9-5 with a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh, but reliever Sarah Bakey (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) slammed the door to finish off the Panthers' second straight win and snap a four-game losing skid against the Braves.

Larsen (9-11) earned the win for UNI, while Ashley Birdsong (15-9) suffered the loss for Bradley.

GAME TWO

The Braves wasted no time jumping out front in the nightcap, with Trish Kowalewski stroking a triple into the right-field corner to plate a pair runs and then scoring herself on an RBI single by Stephanie Ramsey. Alycia Bachkora pushed the Braves' fourth run of the inning across with a run-scoring double, giving Bradley a 4-0 lead after a half inning.

Kowalewski increased that cushion to 7-0 with a three-run home run in the top of the second, giving her five RBIs for the doubleheader.

The Panthers answered in the bottom of the second, with Aguero stroking a lead-off single and Gerking following with a base hit of her own to start what became a three-run rally.

Paulson followed with a sacrifice bunt that moved Aguero to third and Gerking to second, but Aguero scored and Paulson reached when the Braves' throw to first went wide. Gerking then scored on an RBI groundout by Kumamoto, and pinch-runner Brittany Ruzicka (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Jefferson) was able to cross on a wild pitch to cut Bradley's lead to 7-3.

The Braves pushed another pair of runs across in the top of the third to make it 9-3, but the Panther lineup was not finished.

After a single by Machovec and consecutive walks drawn by Lepley and Larsen loaded the bases, Aguero delivered a two-out RBI single to center field that cut the Braves' lead to 9-4.  The Panthers left the bases loaded, however, and would not manage to score again.

Lepley, who took the start for UNI, failed to make it out of the first inning, as the Braves tagged her for four earned runs on four hits in two-thirds of an inning.  Lepley (7-10) took the loss for the Panthers, while Amanda Clack (4-3) picked up the victory for Bradley by scattering seven Panther hits over a complete-game effort.

Aguero finished the nightcap 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI, while Kumamoto also drove in a run.

The Panthers continue their mid-week road swing Wednesday with a non-conference doubleheader against Western Illinois in Macomb, Ill. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.

NOTES

Tuesday's first game marked the ninth time this season the Panthers have racked up 10 hits or more in a game. UNI has done so four times in its last nine games.

 With four home runs in Tuesday's opener, the Panthers have put up three multi-homer games in their last seven contests. UNI has a total of seven multi-home run games this season.

With Heather Tarter and Morgan Paulson collecting their first home runs of the season in Tuesday's opener against Bradley, the UNI lineup now boasts 10 players who have recorded at least one homer this season.

The Panthers' 9-5 win in game one was the third game of the season in which they hit at least four home runs, but it was the first such contest UNI has won. The Panthers fell 11-8 to Illinois State (March 17) and 6-5 to Arkansas (March 4) despite tallying four longballs in each game.