Shocker SB at Northern Iowa

[flyingMoose]

The Shockers travel to Cedar Falls to meet Northern Iowa in this weekend's conference series. Because of Easter, the games are played Friday and Saturday.

The Panthers are currently 6-2 in the Valley and 12-16 overall. They won one game from Illinois State, two of two from Loyola and swept Southern Illinois in conference series.

Northern Iowa hitting is led by Kennedy Bailey ( OPS of .973) and Rikki Alcaraz (.919 and 4 HR), the only players with an OPS greater than .900. Chelsea Ross ls the mainstay in the circle for the Panthers with an ERA of 3.51 and a WHIP of 1.29. She was the Valley Pitcher of the Week this past week. Alyssa Buchanan's numbers are 4.98 and 1.49.

Shocker hitting continues to be paced by Brittany (OPS of 1.186 and 6 HR), Liz (.976), Cacy (.965 and 6 HR) and Mackenzie (.906). Katie (3.95 and 1.52) and Jenni (3.89 and 1.81) lead the pitching staff for the Shocks.

[1972Shocker]

Game 1: UNI 4 - WSU 3

The Lady Shocks lose yet another 1-run game. The Shocks are 4-10 in their last 14 games. 6 of those losses, all in Valley play, were by 1 run.

Jenni Brooks went the first 5.1 innings with Kelsey Sterneker coming on to get the final two outs in the bottom of the 6th.

Jenni gave up a solo home run in the 3rd. She allowed 2 more runs in the 5th on 3 singles and 2 errors by MacKenzie Wright at 2B as UNI lead 3-0 after 5 innings.

In the top of the 6 the Shocks loaded the bases with 1 out on singles by Brittany, Melanie and Kelly. Michelle Dixon popped out to SS for the 2nd out but Kennedy came through with a 2-run single before Paige Mason struck out to end the inning. UNI 3 - Shocks 2

In the bottom of the 6th Jenni got the leadoff hitter before give up a 1-out single. At that point Kelsey came on in relief. UNI then loaded the bases with a hit by pitch and a bunt single. They scored what would prove to be the winning run on a Sac Fly to LF.

In the 7th the Shocks got a single by Liz Broyles and a home run by Cacy Williams. Unfortunately, the home run came 1st.

WSU: 3R, 8H, 2E, 8LOB
UNI: 4R, 9H, 0E, 7LOB

[1972Shocker]

Game 2: WSU 4 - UNI 1

UNI struck 1st in the bottom of the 2nd pushing across an unearned run with the aid of MacKenzie Wright's 3rd error of the DH.

UNI reciprocated as Cacy Williams reached 2nd leading off the 3rd on a 2-base error by UNI's LF. Brittany Fortner delivered the run 1-out later with a double to left center to tie the game at 1 all where it remained through 6 innings.

In the 7th Macklin Hitz, pinch-hitting for Ashley Johnson, lead off with a double to CF. Ashley re-entered as the runner at 2B. Cacy Williams followed with a walk. Kelli Spring then lined out to SS. I assume she probably tried to lay down a sac bunt with less than 2 strikes but did not get that accomplished. However, Brittany Fortner picked her with an RBI single to give the Shocks a 2-1 lead. Liz Broyles singled to RF to load the bases. MacKenzie Wright then atoned for her earlier error with a 2-run single to put the Shocks up 4-1. At that point Paige Mason grounded into a 6-4-3 DP to end the inning.

Katie Malone has gone the distance for the Shocks allowing only the 1 unearned run in the 2nd.

Not sure what is happening in the bottom of the 7th as the live stats seems to have quit functioning. The final score did end up being 4-1.

[1972Shocker]

Game 3: Shocks 6 - Panthers 3. Shocks win their first Valley series of the year.

Katie Malone went the distance allowing 9 hits and walking 3 plus the Shocks did make 2 errors but apparently Katie got the outs when she needed to.

Katie got off to a little bit of a rocky start in the 1st inning walking the leadoff hitter and then making an error on a sac bunt attempt to put runners on the corners with no one out. Katie got a strike out and the runner on 1st was thrown out at 2nd attempting to steal with the runner on 3rd holding. However, Katie gave up two more singles before getting another strike out to end the inning but UNI was up 1-0 although it could have been worse.

The Shocks pushed across a run in the top of the 2nd as Mackenzie Wright reached 2nd on a 2-base error by the RF to leadoff the inning and was sacrificed to 3rd. Melanie Jaegers struck out but made it all the way to 2B on a wild pitch on the 3rd strike putting runners at 2nd and 3rd with only 1 out. Kennedy Long, pinch-hitting for Layne Greenlee, singled to CF scoring McKenzie as Melanie advanced to 3rd base and Kennedy took 2nd on the throw in from the outfield. Unfortunatley, Erin Carny struck out and Cacy Williams grounded out to 2B to end the threat. So it was 1-1 but the Shocks could of and maybe should of have had more.

The Shocks did take the lead in the 3rd inning. Kelli Spring lead off the inning with a bunt single. Brittany Fortner flied out to LF. Kelli then stole 2nd base but Liz Broyles, who has been hot, popped out to 3B for the 2nd out. Mackenzie Wright picked up her teammates though with a double to right center that scored Kelli then Macklin Hitz singled to LF to plate Mackenzie as the Shocks went up 3-1.

The score remained 3-1 until the bottom of the 6th when UNI scored on a 2-out triple followed by a 2-out single. Shocks were leading 3-2 after 6.

Cacy Williams lead off the Shocker 7th with a bunt single and was sacrificed to 2B by Kellin Spring. Brittany Fortner singled to LF scoring Cacy and Brittany advanced to 3rd on an error by the LF. Liz Broyles than followed with a double to RF to score Brittany. Ashley Johnson was then inserted as a pinch runner for Liz at 2nd base. Mackenzie Wright then reached on a single with Ashley advancing to 3rd. The Shocks then pulled of a double steal with Mackenzie going all the way to 3rd according to the Live Stats description and Ashley stealing. My guess is Mackenzie kept on running as UNI tried to get Ashley at the plate after a throw to one of the middle infielders. The Shocks failed to score Mackenzie but they had given Katie a nice 4-run cushion at 6-2 heading into the bottom of the 7th.

Katie did give up a 1-out solo home run in the 7th but finished of the game good fashion to preserve the win.

Shockers: 6R, 11H, 2E, 8LOB
Panthers: 3R, 9H, 3E, 9LOB

May not have been a thing of beauty but at this point Shocks can't be too concerned about style points.

[flyingMoose]

Other Series

Loyola 0-3 Drake

Southern Illinois 1-2 Illinois State

Evansville 0-3 Missouri State

Indiana State 1-2 Bradley


Current Standings

10-2 Drake
9-3 Illinois State
8-4 Missouri State
7-4 Northern Iowa
7-5 Southern Illinois
6-6 Bradley
5-7 Indiana State
4-8 Shockers
2-9 Loyola
1-11 Evansville