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CEDAR FALLS, Iowa. – The University of Evansville softball team traveled to Cedar Falls, Iowa to take on Northern Iowa in a weekend series and despite a strong performance in each game, the Aces would fall in both.
 
Evansville (13-14, 1-6 MVC) fell in game one to UNI (17-8, 5-2 MVC) by a score of 7-4, and game two by a score of 10-2 (5 inn.).
 
Game One
The opening game of the weekend conference series was a tight one, as the Aces would look to continue their momentum from the mid-week, 8-0 victory over Belmont.
 
Evansville started junior Megan Gurski in the circle and the junior kept the Panthers off the board through the first two innings before UNI would have a big bottom of the third.
 
The Aces weren't able to put any runs on the board in the top of the third and UNI took advantage. Rikki Alcarez would hit a three run RBI double to score the first three runs for the Panthers and then the third baseman would steal third and scored on an error by Emily Morris to give UNI the 4-0 lead. The Panthers added one more run in the bottom of the third and left the inning with a 5-0 lead.
 
After a scoreless fourth inning, UNI added one more run in the bottom of the fifth, giving the Panthers a 6-0 lead headed into the sixth.
 
Evansville, despite the 6-0 deficit, wouldn't give up. The Aces put four runs on the board in the top of the sixth inning, cutting the Panthers lead down to 6-4. UE scored on a Susan Norris bases loaded hit by pitch that would drive in a run, two ground-out RBI's by Kirsten O'Conner and Michal Luckett and an RBI single by Niki Rahming.
 
Northern Iowa would score one more run in the bottom of the sixth, increasing their lead to 7-4. UE wasn't able to score any runs in the top of the seventh and the Panthers would win the game, 7-4.  
 
Gurski (5-7) would receive the loss for Evansville, pitching 3.0 innings, striking out three, and allowing five runs on five hits.
 
Game Two
In game two of the doubleheader, UE had three different pitchers make an appearance in the circle and despite strong play from each, the Aces were unable to slow down the Panthers offense.
 
Freshman Emma Buckles started for Evansville, and despite a strong inning, Buckles allowed a three-run homerun and the Panthers took an early 3-0 lead.
 
The Aces weren't able to add any runs in the top of the second and Northern Iowa added one more to the board in the bottom of the second, taking the 4-0 lead.
 
Buckles (0-1) finished the day pitching 1.2 innings, allowing four runs on five hits, as the freshman would receive the loss.
 
UE would get on the board in the top of the third with a two-run RBI homerun from Kayla Fortner, cutting the Panthers lead in half, 4-2, but that was all the offense Evansville could get going and it would not be enough.
 
Taylor Perry entered the circle for UE and the senior pitcher gave up another UNI run in the bottom of the third, increasing Northern Iowa's lead, 5-2. 
 
After a scoreless top of the fourth for Evansville, Perry gave up three more runs to the Panthers in the bottom of the inning, giving UNI the 8-2 lead heading into the fifth.
 
Perry would pitch a third of the fifth inning, before freshman Danielle Freeman made an appearance in the circle for UE.
 
Perry finished the day, pitching 2.1 innings, allowing four runs and striking out two.
 
The Purple Aces weren't able to add any runs in the top of the fifth and freshman Danielle Freeman gave up two more Panther's scores in the bottom of the inning, leading to a 10-2 run-rule victory for UNI in the fifth inning.
 
Evansville will look to close out the series with a victory tomorrow, as the Aces and UNI will play game three of the Missouri Valley Conference weekend series at 12:00 p.m.