VU Softball Drops Series Opener to UNI

Softball Drops Series Opener to UNI

 The Valpo softball team opened the final weekend of regular season play at the Valpo Softball Complex on Friday afternoon, falling to UNI by a 5-0 final despite limiting one of the MVC’s top offenses to just five hits.

How It Happened

–        Valpo had its best chance to score in the first inning, as senior Alexis Johnson (Schererville, Ind./Lake Central) lined a one-out single and freshman Natalie Bush (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian) followed by working a walk. Back-to-back strikeouts stranded the pair of runners on base.

–        A two-out RBI single in the top of the second opened the scoring for the Panthers.

–        Freshman Anna Wilming (Columbus, Ohio/Olentangy Orange) worked around a one-out walk in the third and a leadoff single in the fourth to keep UNI off the board in both frames, limiting the Panthers to just one run over the first four innings.

–        Meanwhile, Valpo had a base hit apiece in each of the first four innings, but was unable to convert any of those opportunities into runs.

–        UNI loaded the bases with one out in the fifth before a strong defensive play from Lexi Szostak (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park) to come home for a force out on a slow grounder — a play which was originally ruled safe before being overturned on review — resulted in the second out. A tough-luck hop on a sharp grounder to third pushed two runs across the plate for the Panthers, though.

–        UNI capped the scoring with two unearned runs in the seventh.

Inside the Game

–        Wilming did well to limit the Panthers’ offensive production, holding them to just five hits and three earned runs in a complete-game effort while striking out four.

–        Johnson was productive in all three of her plate appearances, tallying a single, a walk and a sacrifice bunt.

–        The senior also continued her stellar defensive campaign which has her positioned for a shot at MVC Defensive Player of the Year. She tallied four putouts and five assists on Friday, including one of each on a line-drive double play in the sixth inning, and has committed just one error on 93 chances in MVC play.

–        Johnson was the only Beacon to reach base multiple times on Friday. Senior Kayla Skapyak (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) did go 1-for-3 to boost her batting average in MVC play ever closer to the .300 mark.

Next Up

Valpo (8-38, 2-19 MVC) continues the series with the Panthers on Senior Day Saturday. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m., with Senior Day ceremonies getting underway at about 1:40 p.m.