CEDAR FALLS, Iowa—The Wichita State softball team split their Friday doubleheader against Northern Iowa inside Robinson-Dresser Stadium. As the Shockers lost 4-3 in game one, they won 4-1 in game two. With the split, Wichita State improved to 20-19 overall (3-8 MVC) as UNI is now 13-18 overall (7-3 MVC).

Brittany Fortner was 4-8 with two RBI, improving her batting average to .419 on the year. Liz Broyles had a strong day at the plate as well, as she was 3-7 on Friday.

Game one saw the Shockers score two in the sixth and one in the seventh, but a UNI run in the bottom of the sixth secured the win for the Panthers.

In game two, the Shockers used a three-run seventh to break a 1-1 tie after the game had been tied from the top of the third through the end of the sixth.

The rubber match of the three-game set is on Saturday at noon inside Robinson-Dresser Stadium.

Game 1: UNI 4, Wichita State 3

Jenni Brooks took her ninth loss of the season. She pitched 5.1 innings pitched and gave up four runs (three earned) on eight hits, walked two and struck out four.

Chelsea Ross picked up her 10^th win of the season as she pitched a complete game. She allowed three runs (all earned) on eight hits, walked four and struck out five.

Brittany Fortner was 2-4, as Kennedy Long had a pinch-hit two-RBI single. Cacy Williams was 1-4 with her team-leading seventh homer of the season.

Caitlin Wnek was 2-3 with a homer and two RBI to pace the Panthers.

A passed ball moved Melanie Jaegers and Kelli Spring to third and second respectively with one out after both walked during the top of the second. Ross struck out Michelle Dixon swinging to record the second out, and struck out Layne Greenlee looking to strand runners on second (Spring) and third (Jaegers) to keep the game scoreless through the top half of the second.

Wnek hit a solo homer to deep right to lead off the bottom of the third, giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead.

As Fortner recorded the Shocks' first hit of game one during the top of the fourth, a Liz Broyles sacrifice bunt and Jaegers' second walk of the day eventually set up runners at second (Jaegers) and third (Fortner) with two outs and Dixon at the plate. A couple of pitches into the at-bat, Dixon grounded out to Ross to end the top-half of the fourth with the score remaining at 1-0 UNI.

Through the first four innings, a pitcher's duel broke out. As Brooks allowed just a run on four hits, Ross only allowed one hit.

A bunt-single by Wnek and a two-base fielding error by Wright advanced Wnek to third, all with one out in the bottom of the fifth. A batter later, Micalla Rettinger hit a RBI-single just over Dixon's glove at third base, expanding the Panther lead to 2-0.

Two batters later, the bases were loaded with Kristin Lock at the plate. Wnek was thrown out at home for the second out in a force out play, but Kennedy Bailey reached on Wright's second error of the fifth, scoring Rettinger to push UNI's lead to 3-0. Barely a second a later, Rikki Alcarez advanced to third and was thrown out at home, 4-2, to end the UNI fifth.

Wichita State loaded the bases with one out in the top of the sixth and Dixon at the plate. Dixon popped out to short, but Long (pinch-hitting for Greenlee) hit a bloop-single nearly in the same location as Rettinger hit her RBI-single in the bottom of the fifth. This scored both Jaegers and Hunter Hogan (pinch-running for Broyles) to cut UNI's lead to 3-2 after the top of the sixth.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Macey Wolfe hit a line-shot to center that reflected off of Brooks' throwing hand, forcing her out of the game. With Kelsey Sterneker in to replace Brooks, Julia Hunter reached due to being hit by a pitch, and Samantha Olsen reached on a bunt single to load the bases. A sacrifice fly by Wnek eventually extended the Panther lead to 4-2 into the top-half of the seventh.

Williams hit her seventh homer of the season, a solo shot to deep right center, to close the UNI lead to 4-3 with one out in the top of the seventh. Ross retired Fortner for the second out. Broyles allowed a single to Broyles, allowing the tying run to be at first while Jaegers became the go-ahead run at the plate. Jaegers then flew out to left to end the game, giving UNI the 4-3 win.

Game 2: Wichita State 4, UNI 1

Katie Malone picked up her 11^th win of the season. She pitched the entire game, allowing just a run (unearned) on six hits as she walked one and struck out seven.

Alyssa Buchanan took her sixth loss. She pitched the entire game as well, allowing four runs (three earned) on 10 hits, walked one and struck out one.

Brittany Fortner and Liz Broyles led the Shockers by each going 2-4. Fortner had a double and two RBI while Mackenzie Wright was 1-3 with two RBI of her own. McKenzie Adams also collected two hits, as she was 2-3. Cacy Williams was 0-3, but scored two runs.

Samantha Olson and Caitlin Wnek were both 2-3 for the Panthers, but Olson also had a RBI.

Two errors, one by Wright and one by Kristin Lock of UNI would later produce the only two runs of the game (one for each team) for the first six innings.

Wright's fielding error in the bottom of the second allowed Anna Varriano to reach base and then advance to second, as Julia Hunter advanced to third. One batter later, Samantha Olson singled to left, scoring Hunter to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead after two innings.

The Shockers responded with a run of their own during the top of the third when Fortner hit a RBI-double to left center, scoring Williams (who reached on Lock's fielding error in left) to tie the game at one apiece after the top half of the third.

For the second straight game, the WSU/UNI matchup became a pitcher's duel through a stretch of the game. Through four innings, there were eight total hits allowed—five by Buchanan, and three by Malone, as the score remained 1-1 heading into the fifth inning.

UNI strung together consecutive hits by Wnek and Olson. Wnek singled and moments later, Olson singled as the hit-and-run was on, moving Wnek to third with one out. Malone kept the game tied at one through five innings after forcing a popup by Micalla Rettinger and a flyout by Alcaraz.

After six innings, the line scores were identical for both teams. Each team had a run on six hits, with an error a piece heading into the top of the seventh.

A pinch-hit leadoff double by Macklin Hitz put the Shockers in business during the top of the seventh. As she was pinch-ran for by Ashley Johnson (who re-entered the game), Cacy Williams walked to set up runners on first (Williams) and second (Johnson) with no outs. Fortner gave the Shockers their first lead of the day after she singled to left center, scoring Johnson. Moments later, Wright hit a two-RBI single, scoring both Williams and Fortner to push the Shocker lead to 4-1 heading into the final half-inning.

Malone got the first two batters out in the bottom of the seventh, but walked one with two outs. Malone struck out the last batter of the game to earn a split with UNi and win 4-1.

The Shockers complete their three-game set with UNI on Saturday at noon inside Robinson-Dresser Stadium.

-WICHITA STATE-