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April 22, 2007

Box Score

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- What was a thrilling pitchers' duel for eight innings became a slugfest in the ninth, and it was No. 20 Southern Illinois that came out on top after plating eight runs in the top of the final frame to complete a three-game sweep of the University of Northern Iowa softball team on a blustery Sunday at Panther Park.

A two-run home run that just slipped out of the grasp of a leaping Mandy Kumamoto (Torrance, Calif./West) at the center field wall put the Salukis (36-9, 15-3 MVC) on the board in the first, but UNI starter Ashley Lepley (Albia, Iowa/Albia) then settled in and kept the bats of SIU's powerful lineup quiet over the next seven innings for the Panthers (18-27, 4-12)

Lepley was locked in an outstanding duel with Salukis ace Cassidy Scoggins, as each pitcher had her way with the opposing lineup. Lepley held SIU, which drilled a combined 33 hits in Saturday's doubleheader, to just a pair of runs on six hits over the game's first eight frames.  She kept SIU scoreless on just four hits between the second and eighth innings and, from the fourth to the seventh, Lepley retired 12 consecutive Saluki batters.

The Panthers finally backed Lepley up with a run in the sixth, tagging Scoggins for just her second run allowed of the weekend on a solo home run by Whitney Link (Ankeny, Iowa/Des Moines East), who also homered in Saturday's second game and now has four longballs on the season.

Lepley then held up her end, retiring the Salukis in order in the top of the seventh to set up a rally attempt by the Panthers in the bottom of the inning.

Kumamoto got things started by driving a lead-off single, and Lepley then moved her into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Jen Larsen (Moline, Ill./Moline) took the opportunity and ran with it, knocking a single up the middle to plate Kumamoto and force the Panthers' first extra-innings contest of the season.

Both teams tallied a hit but were unable to score in their respective halves of the eighth inning, but the floodgates opened in the ninth.

Krystal Stein legged out a one-out double to kick-start the Salukis' scoring bid, and then Tiffanie Dismore and Becky Wegmann followed with back-to-back infield hits to load the bases. Alicia Garza put SIU up for good by driving a two-RBI single to left-center, then Lauren Haas smacked an RBI double, Jayme Wamsley added with a two-run double and Katie Wilson drove a three-run homer to left to give the Salukis a seemingly-insurmountable 10-2 lead.

The Panthers put up a valiant rally attempt in the bottom of the ninth, however.

Leadoff hitter Megan Machovec (DeWitt, Iowa/Central) gave the Panthers a baserunner when she was hit by a pitch, and Kumamoto followed with a double down the right-field line to put a pair of UNI runners in scoring position. It didn't matter on which base the runners were standing, however, because Lepley promptly emptied all of them by driving a three-run homer to left.

The homer, Lepley's team-high ninth of the season, cut the Salukis' lead to 10-5, but Scoggins pitched her way out of the inning to take the victory and improve to 19-6 on the year. Lepley took the loss despite eight brilliant innings, as SIU tagged the junior for six runs on six hits in the final frame to drop her season record to 8-11.

After being held to a combined six hits in Saturday's doubleheader, the Panthers tallied eight base hits off Scoggins, led by Kumamoto's 2-for-4 effort. 

SIU's win, combined with a rare tie between Creighton and No. 18 Illinois State on Sunday, leaves the Salukis alone at the top of the Valley standings with a half-game lead over the Bluejays.

UNI, meanwhile, remains a half-game ahead of Indiana State (18-22, 4-13 MVC) and a full game ahead of Drake (13-33, 3-15) for the all-important eighth position in the league rundown.  The Sycamores fell, 1-0, to Missouri State on Sunday, while Drake dropped a 7-1 decision to Evansville. This season, for the first time, the top eight finishers in the final standings will take part in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

The Panthers return to action Tuesday, as they continue an eight-game homestand with in-state rival Iowa in a non-conference game at Panther Park. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.

NOTES

Sunday's series finale with Southern Illinois was the Panthers' first extra-inning game of season, and their first in exactly one year. UNI last went to extra innings on April 22, 2006, in a 4-3 loss to Indiana State.  The Panthers went 44 games this season before needing extra frames, while the 2006 UNI team had a total of four such contests.

With Whitney Link and Ashley Lepley each going deep for UNI on Sunday, the Panthers ran their total of home runs to 35 on the season.  With eight games to play, this year's UNI team needs just seven more longballs to tie the school record for homers in a season, a mark the Panthers set with 42 round-trippers in 2003.