CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (April 19, 2024) – The UIC softball team (16-27, 9-9 MVC) went on a two-out, three-run rally in the top of the seventh inning, but fell 6-3 to UNI (22-15, 10-5 MVC) in a windy Friday night Missouri Valley Conference series opener at the Robinson-Dresser Sports Complex in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
 
Graduate student Carlee Jo Clark (Carol Stream, Ill./St. Francis/Southern Illinois) batted 3-for-4 with three singles. She also pitched two innings in relief, allowing just two hits and striking out three. Senior Larisa Villa (La Habra, Calif./La Habra) went 2-for-3 with a two-RBI single while freshman Cameran Rios (Effingham, Ill./St. Anthony) tallied a pair of singles for the Flames.

COMMENT FROM HEAD COACH LYNN CURYLO
"We battled today. We just unfortunately left too many runners on."
 
GAME RECAP

• The Flames collected a trio of base hits off the bats of Clark, Villa, and redshirt freshman Jazmyn Casas (Berwyn, Ill./Taft) to load the bases in the first, but were unable to score any runs. 
• With the bases loaded in the bottom of the second, senior Emma Crowley (Peoria, Ill./Peoria Notre Dame) threw out UNI's Taylor Hogan attempting to steal second to get UIC out of the inning unscathed.
• In the bottom of the third, Crowley threw out her second baserunner of the outing, catching UNI's Alexis Pupillo attempting to steal second base.
• After UNI scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth, Clark entered the circle in the bottom of the fifth inning in relief. She began her outing with a pair of strikeouts and finished with a line out to Casas to end the inning.
• The Panthers tallied two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth to take the 6-0 lead before the Flames broke the shutout in the top of the seventh, when graduate student Alannah Cran (Oxnard, Calif./Oxnard) scored from third on a passed ball.
• In the next at-bat, Villa crushed a ball out to center field, scoring Rios and Clark. However, the Panthers secured the win in the next at-bat with a strikeout to end the game.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

• Crowley has thrown out 10 base runners this season. She ranks fourth in the MVC in this statistical category.
• Rios has 11 hits in the month of April, and has eight multi-hit games this season.
• Clark and Villa are tie for the team lead in hits (37). 

UP NEXT FOR THE FLAMES!
                                                              
The Flames return to the Robinson-Dresser Complex in Cedar Falls, Iowa Saturday to face-off against the Panthers at 2 p.m. (CT). The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available at UICFlames.com.
 
Fans are strongly encouraged to support NIL opportunities for UIC student-athletes through contributions to The Chicago Collective.
 
For more information, fans are encouraged to visit UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (@UIC_Softball and @UICFlames) and Instagram (@uic_softball and @uicflames).