April 18, 2002

Final Stats

St. Louis - The Saint Louis University softball team's attempt at the longest winning streak in school history ended when Northern Iowa swept a doubleheader at The Billiken Sports Center on Thursday evening. The visiting Panthers took game one 3-1 in nine innings and game two 8-6. The Billikens had tied the school record with wins in their previous seven outings.

Northern Iowa took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth when Claudia Sandoval doubled in Angela Higgins. The Billikens tied the game in the bottom of the seventh. Pinch hitter Kristin Rossi singled and Jessica Saucedo came on to pinch run. Beth Puttcamp put down a sac bunt and Adrienne May's single put runners on the corners. Northern Iowa attempted to pick off May at first, but the throw sailed into right field and Saucedo ran in to tie the game. May moved to third on the play and the Billikens were in position to win the game in their final at-bat. However, the Billikens hit into an inning-ending double play as the game moved into extra frames. In the top of the ninth, Erin Strellner doubled and Melissa Larson followed with a single up the middle. After a walk by Lindsay Wood, Stacey Sampson laced a double to right center to plate the game-winning runs. Both starting pitchers went the distance and put on a splendid pitching performances. Northern Iowa's Julie Phillips scattered eight hits over nine innings while Nicole Bohnenstiehl struck out eight.

Game two turned into a slugfest and though the Billikens out-hit UNI, the Panthers came through with runners in scoring position to complete the sweep. Tracy Davis singled in Lindsay Wood to give UNI a 1-0 lead. The Billikens tied it in the bottom of the first when Beth Yagge's sac fly scored Erin Jeffery, who tripled to open the frame. UNI tacked on two runs in both the second and third before the Billikens again tied it in the bottom of the third. The Billikens used six consecutive singles to push across four runs for a 5-5 tie after three innings. SLU took the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Yagge's single to left drove in Jeffery for a 6-5 advantage. However, Northern Iowa used three hits and a Billiken error to tally three runs in the top of the sixth. Stacey Sampson singled to tie the game at 6-6. Angela Higgins reached on a fielder's choice to push UNI on top 7-6. Erin Strellner closed out the scoring with an infield single and an 8-6 UNI lead. The Billikens had 11 hits in the second game, but UNI's eight hits proved to be just enough. Jeffery, who went 5-for-7 in the doubleheader, became the first Billiken to score three runs in a single game at The Billiken Sports Center.

The Billikens fall to 20-21 while Northern Iowa improves to 26-17.