AMES, Iowa – Northern Iowa’s six-run second inning was the key for the visitors Tuesday afternoon as the Panthers (21-9, 6-0 Missouri Valley) defeated Iowa State (9-19, 0-3 Big 12) 8-0 in five innings at the Southwest Athletic Complex.
The Panthers struck first in the top of the second. Allison Galvin led off with a double down the leftfield line, which was followed by Whitney Plein taking a Tori Torrescano 2-2 pitch over the straightaway centerfield wall to put the Panthers up 2-0. Melissa Walls didn’t waste any time in her at bat as she took Torrescano’s next pitch over the right field wall to make it a 3-0 UNI advantage.
The Panthers tacked on two more when Hannah Borschel hit an RBI-single to right. The second run came home via a throwing error by Cyclone rightfielder Anna Cole. Borschel advanced to third on a wild pitch and was eventually brought home on a Gina Brown groundout.
Northern Iowa tacked on its third home run of the game to lead off the fourth as Brown took advantage of the wind and put Torrescano’s 2-1 pitch over the fence in right to make it 8-0.
Senior Dalyn Varela got Iowa State’s lone hit with a two-out single in the bottom of the second. However, Iowa State could not capitalize as Jorden Smith struck out in the following at-bat.
Varela added a second hit in the bottom of the fifth and advanced to second. However, the Panthers were able to take care of business without the third baseman making any further progress.
Jaye Hutcheson (8-6) picked up the win for UNI, pitching all five innings, allowing just two hits and striking out four. Torrescano (6-12) took the loss for the home team. The junior threw three plus innings, allowing eight runs, six earned, on 10 hits while tying a career-high with five strikeouts. Madison Jones was solid in relief, pitching two shutout innings.
