The Panther started off against No. 19 Nebraska where the Cornhusker offense proved their rank as they scored four runs in the first inning, seven in the bottom of the second, two in the third, and one in the fourth to secure a 14-1 win. Addison McElrath scored the Panther’s only run that occurred in the top of the fourth inning. McElrath and Ella Smithson each had hits for UNI as Morgan Vertz and Carly Goodwin combined for Northern Iowa’s three strikeouts in the circle.
Game two saw the Panthers face off against the SDSU Jackrabbits in which they saw themselves on the board first in the top of the first inning on a fly from Kate Lappe with bases loaded. Kylee Sanders was the lone run of the game. The Jackrabbits put up three runs in the bottom of the first inning as well as single runs in the bottom of the third, fourth, and fifth innings to go on to win 6-1 over UNI. Anna Wischnowski and Kara Maiers combined for four strikeouts.
Game three of the tournament saw UNI face off against Northern Colorado in which the Panthers got on the board early with a two-run homerun from Brynlee Slockett after a triple from Katelyn Callahan. McElrath scored on a throwing error in the bottom of the third inning to give the Panthers a 3-0 lead. Northern Colorado answered with a home run in the top of the fourth that cut UNI’s lead to two before Ava Smithson nailed a home run. The three-runs saw Slockett and Skyora Smith clear home plate to put the Panthers up 6-1. The Bears answered with a home run in the top of the sixth to cut the lead for Northern Iowa to four, but it was not enough from the Bears as UNI secured the victory 6-2.
Game four saw the Panthers and the Huskers face off again as UNI opened up the game with a run on an RBI single from Drew Hinrichs which allowed Skylar Besnesh to score. Besnesh hit a double to get the team into scoring position. The Huskers answered with a 1-2-3 inning, but that was the lone scoreless inning from Nebraska as they scored a run in the second, four in the third, and four in the fourth inning to take home a 9-1 victory in five innings.
