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Softball
Softball Kicks Off Fall Exhibition Season at Home
Sept. 15, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
THIS WEEK IN UNI SOFTBALL September 17-21 The University of Northern Iowa softball team kicks off its 2008 fall exhibition season at home against Kirkwood Community College on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., but there will be no score kept in this exhibition contest. The Panthers will also welcome Iowa, Drake and Iowa State to Cedar Falls this weekend in the Big Four Classic. UNI will take the field against Iowa at 2 p.m. on Saturday and conclude the Big Four Classic with a double-header against Drake and Iowa State on Sunday. LEADING OFF • The Panthers return eight starters and 10 letterwinners from last year's team which finished 20-28. • There will be many new faces around the Panther softball program this year with the addition of 16 newcomers to the team. • Last year, UNI lost two one-run games against Iowa, 5-4 and 1-0. The Hawkeyes finished 42-20 last year and qualified for the NCAA tournament. • Missouri Valley Conference foe Drake won all three contests last year against the Panthers. Drake cruised to 10-1 and 15-7 victories, but had to hold on to an 11-10 win over the Panthers in the third meeting of the year. Drake finished 29-25 overall last year and 13-10 in the MVC. The Bulldogs won the MVC Conference championship last year and qualified for the NCAA tournament. • UNI split with the Iowa State last year, as both games ended with a 6-3 score. Iowa State finished 29-29 overall and 4-14 in Big 12 play.
2008 HIGHLIGHTS AND SEASON REVIEW
STEADY IMPROVEMENT • The UNI softball team showed gradual improvement from 2007 as the Panthers just missed out on earning a place in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Softball Tournament in 2008. The Panthers finished just shy of the eight-team field, earning a ninth-place finish with an overall record of 20-28 and 5-16 in MVC play. UNI also improved its winning percentage from .373 in 2007 to .416 in 2008.
LARSEN EARNS FIRST TEAM ALL-MVC HONORS • Sophomore Jen Larsen earned the Panthers' first All-MVC first team selection since 2003. Larsen finished the season with a .317 overall batting average and hit .318 in conference play. The sophomore led the Panthers with seven home runs, including three game-winning homers. Larsen registered seven multiple-RBI games, including a career-high five RBIs against UT-Martin (March 2). Besides being a strong force at the plate for the Panthers, Larsen led the way in the circle also, posting the lowest ERA on the team (3.34). Larsen tossed 127.2 innings, including 10 complete games and two shutouts.
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP • Sophomore Megan Machovec finished the season in fourth place in The Valley standings with a batting average of .366. The sophomore finished in second place in The Valley in triples (5) and sixth place in hits (56). Machovec led the Panthers in runs (32), hits (56), stolen bases (8) and triples (5).
STARTING THEM ALL • New Panther student assistant coach Stephanie Aguero ended her four-year playing career as a Panther last spring. Aguero started all 197 games in her career. Aguero finished second on the team with a .361 batting average, while connecting for 53 hits, 11 doubles, five home runs, 31 RBIs and 28 runs scored.
MAKING AN IMPACT • The Panthers six underclassmen made their impact on the stat books for the Panthers in 2008. The six combined for 154 of the Panthers 324 its (48 percent), 76 of the 172 runs (44 percent), 65 of the 163 RBIs (40 percent), 16 of the 45 doubles (36 percent), five of the nine triples (56 percent) and 10 of the 25 home runs (40 percent).
LEAVING THEIR MARK • The 2008 Panthers earned themselves a place in the record books after compiling a school record .971 fielding percentage, topping the previous UNI school record of .966. The Panthers also finished the season with 41 errors, shattering the previous record (52) for fewest errors in a season set in 1998.
STREAK STOPPIN' • UNI snapped Nebraska's 44-game winning streak in home non-conference games as they took a 2-1 win over the Huskers in game one of the doubleheaders contest on March 30. The win was also the Panthers first over the Huskers since 1994 and only its second in 16 attempts against Nebraska.
BATTLING THE BIG TEN • UNI finished the season 2-3 against Big Ten opponents, with wins over Minnesota and Wisconsin and losses to Iowa (twice) and Minnesota. Both of UNI's loses against Iowa were by one run.
PLAYING AT A NEW HOME • The Panthers finished 8-7 at home in their first year playing at the Robinson-Dresser Sports Complex in Cedar Falls last year.
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