NORMAL, Ill. – Offense was the name of the game Sunday afternoon at Marian Kneer Stadium as the Illinois State softball team defeated Northern Iowa 11-6 to take two out of three from the Panthers this weekend.
After the two teams split a doubleheader Saturday, both offenses came out hot on Sunday. Northern Iowa struck first, chasing Redbird starter Regan Romshek after just a third of an inning. The Panthers put up two quick runs thanks to a long ball from Rikki Alcaraz and ISU went to Sarah Finck in relief.
ISU answered back in the bottom of the first when Jordan de los Reyes sent her seventh home run of the season well over the left-centerfield fence to even things at two. UNI retook the lead in the top of the second with another run.
The Redbirds once again answered in the bottom of the frame. Annie Heineman singled in a run and then Romshek belted a three-run blast to center to make it 6-3 ISU.
Northern Iowa came back with two runs in the top of the third to pull within one, but ISU squashed any comeback hopes with two more runs of its own in the bottom of the frame. UNI plated its final run of the game in the top of the fourth.
ISU scored two more in the fourth and one in the fifth and Finck found her groove late in the circle. The freshman held UNI scoreless for the final three innings and won her third game in a week. She went 6 2/3 innings, giving up six hits and four earned runs while walking four and striking out three. Finck advances to 3-1 on the season.
ISU's offense was magnificent from top to bottom with eight starters recording at least one hit and eight starters scoring at least one run.
Heineman and Romshek each recorded three hits as Heineman finished 3-4 with two runs and two runs batted in. Romshek's home run was her fifth of the season and she finished 3-4 with two runs and five RBIs.
Stephanie Gallant and Kara Repp each tallied two hits and the Redbirds totaled 14 as a team. ISU also kept their strikeouts down, whiffing only three times.
The win makes ISU 11-16 overall with a 2-1 Missouri Valley Conference record. The Redbirds will now have a week off before traveling to Indiana State for a three-game series Saturday and Sunday.
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