Panther Softball season is officially underway as UNI hosted the annual UNI-Dome Classic this past weekend, Feb. 8-10.

Head coach Ryan Jacobs announced Saturday morning that the tournament would be renamed the Doc Halverson Classic, named after longtime supporter and fan of Panther athletics.

According to unipanthers.com, the teams who participated in the tournament included Drake, Saint Louis Univesity, Southeast Missouri State, South Dakota State and Toledo.

Teams were able to avoid the freezing wind and snow outside as they took the field inside the UNI-Dome.

The Panthers are looking for redemption this season as they are coming off a .500 performance from last year.

The Panthers took on Southeast Missouri State twice, Toledo, Drake and South Dakota State once to start out on a 3-2 record.

The Panthers split games the first day of the tournament falling to Southeast Missouri State 5-1, but bounced back and shut out Toledo, 5-0.

In the first loss for the Panthers, Brooke Craig allowed five earned runs through her three and two-thirds innings.

Despite the lack of performance by the Panthers’ starter, this allowed the team to place two different freshmen to fill in for the rest of the game, giving experience to the younger athletes.

Hannah Kelley was the first called in to relieve as she pitched one strikeout in two and a third innings, and Erica Oler came in as the closer for the final inning, with  neither of them sacrificing a run.

The Panthers quickly bounced back as they took down the likes of the Toledo Rockets. Sophomore Emma Olejniczak notched the complete game shutout, recording the fourth of her career.

The Panthers got hot in the bottom of the third as Sammey Bunch got the Panthers a two-run home run following a single from Brittney Krodinger, extending the Panther lead 2-0.

The Panthers put the game away in the bottom of the fifth as Brittney Krodinger hit a two-RBI double extending the lead to 4-0 and was later driven in from a single hit by Olivia Brooks.

UNI split games once again on day two of the tournament as they took down St. Louis 9-4, and fell to SEMO for the second time during the tournament, (16-0). In game one, the Panthers were trailing 1-0 after the top of the first but quickly responded, evening the game back out at 1-1.

Both teams held each other scoreless in the second inning, but UNI had the bats explode as they scored a total of seven runs over the next two innings. The Panthers eventually became too much to keep up with as they defeated St. Louis, 9-4.

On the final day of the tournament, the Panthers took on the Jack Rabbits of South Dakota State University and added another win to their series history, as UNI leads all time, (14-2).

The women of UNI were unstoppable as they came out strong and put on a hit parade, led by Courtney Krodinger with three.

The Panthers were able to score enough runs for the mercy rule, as they capped the tournament off with a 10-2 win in five innings.

Up next, the Panthers head south to warmer weather, competing in the Osprey/Dolphin Invitational in Jacksonville, Fla. The tournament will be held Friday through Sunday, Feb.15-17.