Panther Softball

[907uni]

The Panthers lost to the #9 ranked team 3-1. We should be up and cheering this team. Both of Missouri's starting pitchers are rated and they are picked to upset Oklahoma and win the Big 12. 8 walks is a minus but holding a powerhouse to 3 runs means that this team is very special. Come on UNI.....

[achrist70]

I really hate to see teams lose based on the other teams ability to draw walks, always like to see teams win with their effort not based upon calls made by the umpire.

[JayJ79]

Originally Posted by achrist70

I really hate to see teams lose based on the other teams ability to draw walks, always like to see teams win with their effort not based upon calls made by the umpire.

so you must hate called strikeouts too.

[achrist70]

Originally Posted by JayJ79

so you must hate called strikeouts too.

Yes, well unless it is a super nasty pitch

[BCPanther]

Wow. There is no end is there...

[JayJ79]

Softball team was slated to play a double-header at Creighton today (and one game tommorrow), but after playing the first inning of the first game (where each team scored twice), the game was suspended due to weather.

They are planning on resuming and completing the game tommorrow, followed by one more game (thus shortening it to a 2-game series instead of 3). Depending on weather of course.

[Panther'73]

UNI scores 3 runs in the top of the 7th to defeat crayton 5-4. leading 7-1 in the 3rd inning of game 2.

[clenz]

Originally Posted by achrist70

Yes, well unless it is a super nasty pitch

[Panther'73]

UNI wins game 2 15-3 with 17 hits. record now 30-10, MVC 14-0.

[907uni]

Way to go Panthers... 14-0 in the Valley. I like this sort of action.

[TravelingPanther]

Hard to believe UNI is in the 80s in RPI.

[achrist70]

Those will update late today, we should climb a few spots, mainly with the close loss to highly ranked Missouri

[achrist70]

UNI up to 71 in the RPI

[in_the_stands]

Great to sweep Creighton at their place, hope that not getting a 3rd game doesn't hurt us down the road. IlSt and SIU still have better RPIs.

Sort of a schedule fluke this year, all of our non conference midweek games have been on the road, as have 3 of our first 5 conference series. I've been busy for the first two home weekend series, hope to finally see the Panthers live this weekend.

[clenz]

1650 The Fan tweeted that UNI is receiving votes in the coaches poll for the first time in school history

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2

[JayJ79]

I'm not all that familiar with college softball (as far as NCAA postseason play and stuff). Is RPI as big a deal with softball as it is with basketball and volleyball?

[lakesbison]

NDSU #8 in mid major poll UNI behind NDSU again at #11



1. La.-Lafayette (74) 38-2 1
2. Hawai’i (73) 35-4 2
3. Tulsa (66) 29-9 3
4. Fresno State (65) 28-17 4
5. BYU (64) 28-12 5
6. UMass (63) 21-11 6
7. Houston (57) 26-16 10
8. North Dakota St. (54) 28-14 11
9. Central Florida (51) 31-12 12
10. McNeese State (43) 25-11 7
11. Northern Iowa (40) 30-10 17

[in_the_stands]

Split a DH with Bradley, ending the MVC win streak. Still in 1st place.

[in_the_stands]

Anybody know why Jamie Fisher left the Iowa game after 4 innings? She had a shut out going...

['70 Grad]

That was curious. Pitched the night before. Conference games coming up this weekend. It was non-conference. ????
But then Jaye certainly pitched the full first game + extra inning & came back in the second game.

Hawks have enough money/advertizing to give away 30-40 T shirts a night.

[DCGFEB]

In regards to Fisher not pitching a complete game: Probably the "McCaffrey" rule in effect = beat IA 2 straight & they'll take their ball & go home! Food for thought.

[in_the_stands]

Yeah, that's it - we threw the game in order to avoid pissing them off.

[strike00]

UNI wins game 1 against SIU 2-0. The Panthers have a 5 game lead over SIU, ISU, and Creighton with 5 conference games to play. Any Panther win will clinch an MVC championship. Game 2 starting around now.

btw, Jamie Fisher is ridiculous.
19-2 record. 1.41 ERA and teams are hitting just .183 against her. Only a Sophomore, just think if she keeps improving.

[strike00]

UNI loses game 2 7-1. game 3 is tomorrow.

[strike00]

UNI beat the Salukis today 5-0. Congrats to the Panthers on a regular season MVC championship!

They still have a series against Illinois State next weekend in Cedar Falls.

[BCPanther]

Nice job! That's pretty damn impressive for the northernmost school in the league!!

[Panther'73]

WHOO-HOO!! GREAT job!! UNI fans show your support for the gals next weekend - 3 game series vs 2nd place Ill.St, 2 games Saturday, 1 Sunday. The team is very exciting to watch and cheer on....

[strike00]

just looked it up and UNI shared a title with two other teams in 2000, but this is the Panthers first outright championship in 29 years of MVC softball. Congrats to coach Jacobs and the Panther women.

Hopefully, with a decent series next weekend, UNI will have done enough to earn an at-large bid if they can't win the tourney.

['70 Grad]

Congrats, Ladies & Staff!

A good fielding team with slugging. Fun to watch.

[pantherfan72]

congrats to Coach Jacobs and the MVC conference champions, the Panthers!!!! way to keep it rolling this season, girls --- let's keep it going!!!!

[JayJ79]

Volleyball team has dominated the conference the past few years.
WBB won 2 conference championships in the past 3 years (and had a strong season in the third, despite being plagued by injury problems).
Softball has won the conference championship.

UNI has some pretty good womens teams.

[Panther Cat]

Can someone with more knowledge about college softball help me out. What are our chances of earning at at-large bid if we can't win the tournament? Wining the conference outright would help, but not sure how regarded the MVC is nationally?

[achrist70]

I do know in the past the Valley has received multiple bids in general I would say the conference is similar to the way is is viewed for volleyball

[in_the_stands]

Be interesting to see the new RPI numbers this week. Last I checked we were #71, which probably would not get us an at-large bid, particularly since we don't really have an established tradition of strong softball. However, SIU was ahead of us, so hopefully we'll see some improvement.

[JayJ79]

Was a great day (weatherwise) for softball out at the R-D complex for the double-header vs. the 2nd place Redbirds of Illinois State.

Game 1 was a pitchers duel between Jamie Fisher for the Panthers and Jordan Birch for the Redbirds. Unfortunately ILS managed a solo homer in the top of the 6th and UNI wasn't able to answer, so the Redbirds won 1-0. If I read the press release correctly, Fisher is only one strikeout away from the career record for UNI. Not bad for a sophomore.

In Game 2, Jaye Hutchenson took to the circle and gave a strong performance, with the Panthers winning 3-0, thanks in part to Mackenzie Daigh going 2 for 2 at the plate and scoring 2 runs, and a homer by Laura Turner.

Was cool to see support from other UNI sports programs too, as I saw a few coaches as well as current and former players out at the ballpark.

The regular season wraps up tommorrow, with the Panthers closing out the series against the Redbirds at noon for Senior Day.

Next weekend is the MVC tournament, hosted by SIU.
It will be an 8-team single-elimination format.
#1 seed UNI and #2 seed Illinois State will get byes for the first two rounds, while the #3 and #4 seeds get first round byes.

I haven't looked into the tiebreakers, but going by conference record alone, here are the seeding possibilities:
#1 UNI (21-4) and #2 ILS (18-8) have clinched their spots.
Drake (16-10) could be #3 or #4
SIU (15-10) could be #3, #4, or #5
Creighton (14-11) could be #4 or #5
MSU (12-13) and Bradley (11-14) are alive for the #6 and #7 spots
Evansville (7-19), WSU (7-19), and INS (6-19) are fighting for the final spot at #8