McLean County Times

The Illinois State Redbirds faced a challenging day in Cedar Falls, Iowa, as they lost both games of a doubleheader against the University of Northern Iowa Panthers. The losses bring the Redbirds' season record to 19-29 and their conference play record to 13-10.

In the first game, Addison Masching extended her hitting streak to eight games, while Delainey Bryant reached base for the 31st consecutive game. Hannah Tomlianovich made her debut start in game two, and Paige McLeod matched her career-high with eight strikeouts. The team recorded ten hits over the course of the day, including doubles from Julia Larson and Masching in the second game.

During Game 1, despite early success by pitcher Hannah Meshnick who kept UNI hitless through two innings, the Panthers scored a solo home run in the third inning. They added more runs in subsequent innings leading to an 8-0 victory due to a run-rule after five innings.

Game 2 saw McLeod begin strongly with back-to-back strikeouts. The Redbirds took an early lead with a double from Julia Larson but were unable to maintain it as UNI responded with four runs over several innings, ending in a 4-1 defeat for Illinois State.

Looking ahead, Illinois State will face UNI again on Sunday for their final matchup of this series before hosting Evansville for their last regular-season conference series at home.

For ongoing updates about Illinois State Softball, fans can follow them on Twitter (@RedbirdsSB), Instagram (@redbirdsoftball), and Facebook (Illinois State Redbird Softball). Additional information is available via GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App.