By Josh Dinkelman/UNI Athletics
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — UNI softball continues its road trip to South Carolina with a matchup against Wofford on Tuesday, Feb. 25. This will be the first all-time meeting between the two programs.
The Panthers are coming off a 3-1 weekend at the Furman Classic in Greenville, S.C. The weekend saw UNI open the Classic with an 11-5 victory over Morehead State before falling to Austin Peay 3-1. The Cats posted back-to-back shutouts with an 8-0, five-inning victory over Holy Cross and a 4-0 victory over Furman.
Freshman Morgan Vertz recorded the first two wins of her collegiate career in South Carolina with a four-inning start against Morehead State and a three-inning relief effort in the five-inning matchup against Holy Cross.
UNI’s victory over RV Omaha in game five of the 2025 Doc Halverson Classic was UNI head coach Ryan Jacobs’ 500th victory. Jacobs became the eighth head coach in MVC history and the second in UNI history to eclipse the 500-win mark. After the Furman Classic, Jacobs is three wins short of tying Gwen Lewis (UE, 1992-2009) with 506 wins for seventh place on the Valley’s all-time wins list and just 11 short of tying Meredith Bakley (UNI 1983-00) for UNI’s all-time coaching wins.
The Panthers and the Terriers meet for the first time in program history. This will be the third time in the 2025 season that the Panthers will face an opponent for the first time in program history. UNI is 2-0 in first meetings this season, a record which includes an 11-5 victory over Morehead State and an 8-0 victory in five innings against Holy Cross.
As of February 24, UNI softball leads the Valley in multiple categories including double plays per game (0.67), earned run average (2.30), shutouts (3), stolen bases per game (2.67), total stolen bases (24), and win/loss percentage (.667). The Panthers are second in the MVC in double plays (6) and slugging percentage (.420) and third in batting average (.260), home runs (9), home runs per game (1.00), on-base percentage (.369), RBIs per game (4.44), scoring (5.00), and WHIP (1.36). The Panthers’ 0.67 double plays per game is the 12th-best mark in the nation while their 2.67 stolen bases per game are 14th.
Anna Wischnowski proves to be one of the more dominant pitchers in the Valley early in the 2025 season as the redshirt junior pitcher leads the league in complete games (5), earned run average (1.00), shutouts (2), and victories (4). Her five complete games are the fourth-best mark in the nation while her two shutouts are 10th. Skylar Benesh is tied with 68 other athletes in the nation with a 1.000 stolen bases percentage. She leads the Valley with six total stolen bases and 0.67 stolen bases per game. Kylee Sanders has recorded 2.89 assists per game this season at shortstop. The senior leads the Valley and is 16th in the nation with that mark.
Wofford comes into the matchup on a five-game win streak including a perfect 4-0 showing at the Sparkle City Invite which saw victories against Colgate, North Carolina A&T, South Carolina State, and Eastern Kentucky. The Terriers are 8-1 at home with their lone loss at Hope Field coming in their first matchup of the season, a 6-3 loss to Dayton.
Wofford leads the Southern Conference in a number of statistical categories heading into its matchup with the Panthers including double plays (14), double plays per game (1.00), ERA (1.38), fielding percentage (.979), shutouts (3), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.96), sacrifice bunts (20), stolen bases (22), WHIP (1.04), and win/loss percentage (.786). The Terriers’ 14 double plays, 1.00 double plays per game, and 20 sacrifice bunts all lead the nation while their 1.38 ERA is sixth in the country.
Wofford pitcher freshman Natalya Salo was named the SoCon Pitcher of the Week coming out of the Terriers’ Sparkle City Invite. In her three appearances, Salo combined for 9.2 innings pitched with two saves and a complete game win in three games pitched. She gave up seven hits and two total runs in those games while combining for 15 strikeouts. Against South Carolina State, Salo broke Wofford softball’s single-game strikeout record where she retired 10 batters in the 4-2 victory over the Bulldogs.