NCAA-bound Panthers have new softball goal

CEDAR FALLS - It seemed this wasn't the season for the University of Northern Iowa softball team.

The Panthers entered the Missouri Valley Conference tournament as the No. 3 seed, but with a losing record overall. UNI had to fight through the adversities of a young team and a shortened season because of  poor weather.

But three wins later, the Panthers are headed to Omaha, Neb., for the first round of the NCAA Division I Championships.

UNI scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning of last Saturday's championship game against Evansville and Jamie Fischer held the Purple Aces scoreless in the top of the seventh to advance to the NCAA tournament.

“It's those types of situations that we weren't able to come out of on the positive end of earlier in the season,” Coach Ryan Jacobs said. “These girls have been learning from those types of situations and continued to work hard.”

It's just the second time UNI has reached the NCAA tournament. The first time was 1990.

The Panthers started four freshmen in the championship game, including former Clear Creek-Amana standout Caitlin Wnek, who was the co-newcomer of the year in the Missouri Valley Conference.

“At the beginning of the season, this club came up with the goal of winning the conference tournament," Jacobs said. "As a group, when you're working towards one thing and working at it together, you're able to get it done.”

UNI will face 14th-seeded and host Nebraska on Friday at 7 p.m. Depending on the outcome, the Panthers will face either Stanford or Tulsa in the double-elimination regional.

“I gave them a challenge on the bus after the game," Jacobs said about returning from the MVC meet. "Tonight we can celebrate the win, but when we get back to Cedar Falls we need to set a new goal.

“The captains came to me the next day and told me what their new goal is and that is what our new focus is going to be. We're at the point where I don't care what elimination it is, we're just focused on what is right in front of us. We're going to deal with whatever we're faced with.”