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May 5, 2007

Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Jen Larsen hit a three-run home run and combined with Ashley Lepley for a stellar pitching performance to lead the University of Northern Iowa softball team to a 3-1 win over Evansville and a split of the teams' Saturday doubleheader at Cooper Stadium.  The Aces won the opening game, 8-2.

However, the Panthers' loss in game one of the twinbill officially eliminated UNI from contention for the eighth and final spot in next weekend's State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

In the nightcap, Lepley (Albia, Iowa/Albia) and Larsen (Moline, Ill./Moline) combined to hold the Aces scoreless on three hits over the final six innings of the contest to help the Panthers (19-31, 5-16 MVC) snap a seven-game losing skid to Evansville (32-19, 11-13).

Amanda Ockomon led off the first with a double into the left field corner and Liz Mooney followed with an RBI single to put Evansville up 1-0 early, but that was all the offense UNI starter Ashley Lepley (Albia, Iowa/Albia) would allow through the fifth frame.  Lepley held the Aces scoreless on one hit over the next four innings to set up the Panthers' rally.

Mandy Kumamoto (Torrance, Calif./West) led off the top of the sixth with a single down the right field line and Megan Machovec (DeWitt, Iowa/Central) followed by legging out a bunt single that put the tying run in scoring position.

It didn't matter which base the runners were on, however, as Jen Larsen (Moline, Ill./Moline) emptied them all with a three-run blast to left field that gave the Panthers a 3-1 lead.  The homer, Larsen's ninth of the season, was one of five hits in the frame for UNI off Evansville starter Ashley Hobbs, who was chased after 5 1/3 innings.

Lepley bounced back from a rough start in the opening game with a five-inning effort in the nightcap in which she surrendered just one run on five hits.

The Aces put up just two hits the rest of the way as Larsen cruised through the final two innings by allowing just one hit on the way to her third save of the season.  Lepley earned the win to improve to 9-14 on the season, while Hobbs fell to 11-8 with the loss for Evansville.

Between the two games, Larsen combined to throw 6 2/3 innings of relief, allowing just one unearned run on four hits while striking out four.

Machovec went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Panthers, while Stephanie Aguero (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine), Rachel Gerking (Spirit Lake, Iowa/Spirit Lake), Heather Tarter (Fairbury, Ill./Prairie Central) and Morgan Paulson (Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge) also had hits for UNI.

GAME ONE

After Lepley retired the Aces in order in the first, Brittany Herald led off the bottom of the second with a triple to right-center field that narrowly missed leaving the yard. Laura Rather followed with another blast to the same part of the park, but this one cleared the fence for a two-run homer that put the Aces on the board first.

Ashley Werner followed with a bunt single and Cassey Kemna drew a walk to put two more on base for Evansville, with Werner then scoring on an RBI single by Jacki Bradley and Kemna crossing on an infield hit by Amanda Ockoman. Another pair of runs came in on a single up the middle by Liz Mooney, the eighth Evansville player to bat in the frame, to put the Aces up 6-0.

Herald's second hit of the inning, a double into the left-field corner, plated Mooney to push the Aces' lead to 7-0.  Evansville added another tally in the bottom of the third to build an 8-0 lead and set up a potential five-inning finish by the eight-run rule.

The Panthers kept the game alive with a run in the top of the fifth, however.

Tarter got things going for UNI with a one-out single and pinch-runner Liz Adams (Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar) then took second a wild pitch.  Adams advanced to third when Paulson legged out an infield single, and a sacrifice fly to left by Gerking pushed Adams across to extend the game with the Panthers' first run.

The Panthers added another tally in the seventh, with Whitney Link (Ankeny, Iowa/Des Moines East) scoring on a dropped pop fly that allowed Gerking to reach with two outs.

Lepley took the loss in the game after being tagged for seven runs in 1 1/3 innings, while Jacki Bradley picked up the complete-game win for the Aces.

The Aces' seven-run second inning was too much for UNI to overcome despite a spectacular relief effort from Larsen The freshman right-hander gave up just two hits in 4 2/3 innings of work out of the bullpen, allowing the Aces just a single unearned run while tallying three strikeouts.

The Panthers wrap up their season on Sunday with a single game against the Aces at Cooper Stadium. First pitch is set for noon.

NOTES

Evansville's Jacki Bradley, who got the nod for the Aces in game one on Saturday, was the first left-handed starter the Panthers have faced this season.