March 28, 2005

STORYLINE: The University of Northern Iowa softball team welcomes its in-state rival Iowa to Panther Park on Wednesday at 3:30. The Panthers follow the Iowa matchup with a three-game set against Creighton, beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday and ending with a final showdown on Sunday. Both start times are 12:00 noon.

ABOUT UNI: The Panthers had a rough week against Missouri Valley Conference favorite Southern Illinois. UNI dropped all three games to the Salukis, but played them tough down the stretch. The Panthers frustrated Saluki ace Amy Harre, forcing her to throw nearly 160 pitches in the Saturday opener, her highest total ever. Despite the rocky weekend, Erin Strellner still is flirting with .400. The senior sports a team-leading .397 batting average and also leads the team in hits with 25. Just behind Strellner is Jamie Kelling with 24 hits. The freshman leads the team with 15 runs scored, six doubles and three triples. Melissa King cracked double-digits in RBIs over the weekend. The senior knocked in two over the weekend, upping her total to 11, good for third on the team. In the circle, Amanda Hess stared down the elite SIU pitchers and lived to tell about it. The freshman held her own toe-to-toe against Harre and Cassidy Scoggins, and kept the dangerous SIU bats in check over the weekend.

ABOUT IOWA: Iowa has been earning top 25 votes in the USA Today/NFCA poll all season, and rightfully so, as the 27-5 Hawkeyes boast a formidable team with both veteran leadership and young talent alike. The veteran leadership comes in the form of the pitching staff's one-two punch of senior Lisa Birocci and junior Ali Arnold. Birocci leads the staff with 16 wins to her credit, including nine shutouts. The senior has rung up a staggering 136 strikeouts in 124.1 innings and surrendered just 17 earned runs in the same time frame for a 0.96 ERA. Equally impressive is Arnold, who in just 80.1 innings has piled up 110 strikeouts. Six of the junior's 10 wins are shutouts, and her ERA stands at a solid 1.39. Young talent takes no better form on the Iowa squad than Emily Nicols. The freshman lays claim to the Hawkeye triple crown, leading the team with a .353 average, 12 home runs and 31 RBIs. Her 12 homers already are a UI record just 32 games into the season. The Panthers are 21-22 in the all-time matchup with Iowa.

ABOUT CREIGHTON: The Bluejays also have been garnering top 25 attention throughout the year, and are fighting for the top position in the MVC. Creighton wields perhaps the most feared starter in the conference in Tammy Nielsen. The Bluejay ace sports a 15-2 record and leads the MVC in both wins and strikeouts with an astounding 156 K's in 113.2 innings pitched. On the offensive side, Melanie Dorsey provides the spark in the CU lineup with a .412 average and 23 runs scored. Abby Johnson and Lauren Flores provide the pop in the Bluejay lineup, with Johnson leading the team with 10 doubles and 23 RBIs and Flores swatting four homers and driving in 22. UNI is 12-31 against Creighton all-time.

OUT OF THE GATES: Tracy Davis matched a .438 batting average with a home run and seven RBIs to spark the Panthers to a winning record at the Metrodome Classic. The senior came through under pressure as well, driving in two eighth-inning, game-winning RBIs to beat Drake and Tulsa. Her performance earned her all-tournament honors, as well.

DOMINANT DEBUT: Amanda Hess earned her stripes at the Metrodome Classic after throwing two complete games without surrendering an earned run. The freshman sat firmly atop the Metrodome Classic stat sheet with two wins and a 0.00 ERA. Her stellar showing earned her all-tournament and Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week honors.

RIGHT UP THERE: The Panther offense produced three players with .400 batting averages or higher at the Metrodome Classic. Tracy Davis, Jamie Kelling and Erin Strellner each sported .400 marks and all had slugging percentages above .600.

SENIOR MOMENTS: The senior trifecta of Tracy Davis, Melissa King and Erin Strellner proved their leadership in UNI's 5-4 victory over Marshall. With the Panthers down 4-0 in the fifth, the trio drove in five runs to put UNI on top.

TWO IN A ROW: UNI pitchers Amanda Hess and Uju Ibekwe paired up to deliver two straight dominating performances at the National Invitational Softball Tournament last weekend. Hess started the fun against Rhode Island, allowing just one run on six hits while striking out nine in seven innings. Ibekwe followed suit with a complete game, three-hit shutout of Connecticut.

SHE'S BACK: Rachael Rogers ended her two-tournament slump with a six-hit showing at the National Invitational Softball Tournament. The junior hit .400 for the weekend.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Jamie Kelling terrorized Connecticut with a 4-4 showing at the plate. Three of the freshman's four hits were doubles, helping her rocket to the top of the stat sheet.

KEEPING IT FRESH: Panther freshmen led the way against SJSU and SMS, with Liz Adams and Jamie Kelling shining as bright as anyone on the team. Adams earned three wins and compiled a 0.81 ERA, while Kelling hit .381 and led the team with eight hits, six runs scored, and six RBIs.

KABOOM: Panther bats exploded for five runs in the ninth inning in the final game against Southwest Missouri State. Lindsey Schneckloth broke a 3-3 tie with a two-run single and scored when Jamie Kelling followed her with a two-run double. Erin Strellner knocked in Kelling for the fifth run, giving the Panthers an insurmountable 8-3 lead in the ninth.

KING IS GRAND: Senior Melissa King catapulted the Panthers to victory with a sixth-inning grand slam in game two against Southwest Missouri State. King's swing accounted for every Panther run in the SMS nightcap, a game UNI won 4-2.

BONUS BALL: UNI's 10-inning affair against Southern Illinois on Easter Sunday marked the second time in as many weeks the Panthers have played to extra-innings. UNI defeated Southwest Missouri State 8-3 in nine innings March 20, and fell 2-1 to SIU a week later.

RANK GUESTS: The Panthers host Iowa and Creighton after meeting Southern Illinois at Panther Park. All three teams have earned top 25 consideration in the USA Today/NFCA poll. SIU began the year ranked 24th and both Creighton and Iowa have received votes all season.

TO ERR IS HUMAN: The Panthers and Salukis combined for 12 errors in their three-game set, including eight in the opener. The teams lapsed just once in the second game, but combined for three in the final game.

SURF THE WEB: The latest press releases, statistics, schedules and results for all Panther sports are available on the UNI Athletics home page. Updated daily, the site is located at http://www.unipanthers.com. The Missouri Valley Conference home page is located at http://www.mvc-sports.com

PRESS LUNCHEON: Each Monday, UNI's in-season coaches speak at noon in the back room of Pepper's Grill and Sports Pub, located on 18th Street in Cedar Falls. The public and the media are invited to attend and hear what the coaches have to say about the season. KXEL airs a portion of the Luncheon at 5:00 p.m.

QUOTING HEBERT: "It was a tough home-opener for us this weekend against Southern Illinois. They had control all day on Saturday. They have great hitters and one of the best pitchers we'll see all year. Our goal was to get a solid effort from our pitchers, and I felt Amanda Hess pitched extremely well this weekend. She set the tone for us on Sunday and let our bats go to work. Sunday was a good performance for us, and these freshmen have stepped up in some key opportunities and really provided leadership for us. Our goal for Wednesday and next weekend is to play our game like always, give those teams a fight and take a few games from two great teams."