SectionsMSU moves on following sweep
Jon Poorman
Issue date: 3/17/09 Section: Sports
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"We did play a very good team this weekend so I'm not putting a whole lot of stock into where we are based on these three games," said Bears coach Holly Heese.
In the first game of the afternoon, the Bears got into some trouble early as the Panthers took a 2-0 lead after the first inning. Missouri State answered back, though, as an RBI triple by senior Jesse Smith and an RBI double by senior Jen Carr evened the score.
A solo home run in the top of the third inning by UNI's Mackenzie Daigh made the score 3-2. The Panthers would score three more runs in the inning, all of them coming after the second out was made.
In the seventh inning, the two teams combined to score nine runs. The Panthers scored six runs in the inning, highlighted by Brittney Balduf's grand slam, which increased the lead to 11-2. The Bears could only manage three runs in their final at-bat and lost the game 11-5.
Top performers for the Bears included Jessie Smith, who tallied two hits, two runs and two RBI's; Jen Carr; and senior Jana Shewmaker also had two hits each for the Bears.
In the second game of the afternoon, the Bears came out hot as they tallied five runs in the first inning, highlighted by Shewmaker's first career home run. The Panthers answered back though in the third inning, as they scored three runs and cut into the Missouri State lead.
The Bears would take their 5-3 lead into the seventh inning, looking to secure the win. UNI had other plans. The Panthers took advantage of Missouri State errors and ended up with eight runs in the inning to not only complete the comeback, but also take a convincing lead. The Bears were unable to answer and lost the game 11-5.
Top performers in the second game were Smith, who had another two-hit game, and sophomore Christina Gammon, who also had two hits.
In the final game of the series on Sunday, the Bears once again fell victim to a big inning from the Panthers. The Bears held a 1-0 lead until the third inning when the Panthers scored seven runs on seven consecutive hits.
Missouri State managed to score three more runs in the fourth inning, but UNI answered in the top of the fifth with three more runs of their own, and the Bears lost 11-4.
In the final game, sophomore Jenna Schwark recorded two hits, as did senior Ashley Arbon.
The Bears are now 9-10 overall and 0-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Panthers improved to 17-5 overall and 3-0 in MVC play. UNI has now won nine of its last 10 games.
"I knew they were going to score a lot of runs on us," Hesse said of UNI. "They are just a really good hitting team."
The Bears are back in action today with a home game against Oklahoma State at 5 p.m.
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