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April 28, 2007

Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The University of Northern Iowa softball team dropped a pair of games to Creighton on Saturday, as the Bluejays jumped into the lead of the Missouri Valley Conference standings with 3-0 and 10-4 wins over UNI at Panther Park.

While the Bluejays (34-11-1, 16-3-1 MVC) moved to the top of the league rundown, the Panthers (18-29, 4-14) remain eighth in the Valley standings by percentage points over Indiana State (4-15), which was swept Saturday by Bradley, and Drake (4-16), which split with Missouri State.

 With their wins, the Braves now own a three-game lead over UNI for seventh place with four games to play.

GAME ONE

The opener was a pitchers' duel between two of the MVC's top freshmen, with Creighton's Tara Oltman getting the best of UNI's Jen Larsen (Moline, Ill./Moline) in a game that saw little in the way of offense.

Oltman, who improved to 21-6 on the season, tossed a gem for the Bluejays, holding the Panthers scoreless on three hits on her way to the complete-game win.  Larsen also was strong, holding Creighton to just five hits in a complete-game effort, but the Jays made the most of their limited opportunities by putting three of those hits over the outfield fence.

Bailey Dawson, Renae Sinkler and Michelle Koch all went deep for the Jays, with their trio of solo home runs the difference in the game.  Larsen, Mandy Kumamoto (Torrance, Calif./West) and Rachel Gerking (Spirit Lake, Iowa/Spirit Lake) accounted for the Panthers' hits.

GAME TWO

The nightcap began with another strong pitching performance for the Panthers, as Ashley Lepley (Albia, Iowa/Albia) cruised through the first two innings and the Panthers jumped out to a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Morgan Paulson (Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge)

Consecutive fielding errors by the Panthers in the third inning allowed things to unravel, however, as the Jays made the most of the extra opportunities UNI's miscues allowed and posted three unearned runs to grab a 3-1 lead.

Creighton added another three runs in the top of the fourth on an RBI base hit by Koch and a two-run single off the bat of Jamie Reiss, bumping the Jays' advantage to 6-1.

UNI answered in the bottom of the frame with a solo home run by Whitney Link (Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny), who ripped a powerful line drive over the left field fence for her fifth homer of the year and third in the Panthers' last four games.

The Jays tacked on another tally in the top of the fifth, but the Panther offense was not finished, either. Lepley started the charge by drawing a two-out walk, which Larsen followed up with an RBI single that dropped into right-center field and allowed Lepley to score from first.  Stephanie Aguero (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) then followed by stroking a double to the right-center field gap that plated Larsen and cut Creighton's lead to 7-4.

The Panthers' comeback hopes were dashed, however, when Dawson provided the final blow in the top of the sixth with her second home run of the day, a three-run shot that provided the final margin.

Lepley (8-12) was saddled with the loss for the Panthers, while former UNI hurler Amanda Hess (12-4) picked up the win for the Bluejays in her return to Cedar Falls.

The Panthers and Bluejays wrap up their weekend series with a single game on Sunday, with first pitch set for noon at Panther Park.

NOTES

Ashley Lepley set a UNI school record for most times hit by a pitch in a single season on Saturday when she was plunked for the seventh time this year. The record-setting beanball came on a pitch by Creighton's Tara Oltman in the third inning of Saturday's opening game.

With Whitney Link hitting her fifth home run of the season in Saturday's second game against Creighton, the Panthers now boast four players with at least five homers for just the third time in school history. UNI also had four players tally at least five longballs in 2000 and 2003. 

With her solo homer in Saturday's second game against Creighton, Whiney Link becomes the 20th player in Panther history to record five homers in a season.  Ashley Lepley (9), Jen Larsen (8) and Kelly Papesh (6) also have earned that distinction this season.