CARBONDALE (WSIL) -- A trio of late runs by Northern Iowa was the difference Sunday in a 3-0 Panthers victory over the Southern Illinois Salukis in the 2021 regular season finale for both teams.
The Salukis stranded runners in four of seven innings and got their leadoff hitter on base in three of those innings but couldn't get to UNI's starting pitcher Kailyn Packard. Packard picked up her second shutout win over the Salukis in as many days and allowed just four hits with six walks in 14 innings of work.
"(Packard) was throwing three or four different speeds and can speed you up or slow you down," Associate head coach  said. "She has a good mix of pitches and switches up what she starts and ends at-bats with."
With the loss, Southern will be the fourth seed in next week's Missouri Valley Conference tournament, and will play Thursday, May 13 against the winner of Bradley vs. Loyola/Drake.
SIU starting pitcher  cruised through the first three innings and allowed just a walk through four.Â
Harness ran into trouble in the bottom of the fifth. UNI put a runner in scoring position with a one-out double from their nine-hole hitter, Madison Parks, and Adara Opiola brought her into score with a two-out single.
The Salukis went down in order in the sixth and the Panthers jumped on the opportunity to add to their lead. Three-straight hits for UNI to open the bottom of the frame turned a one-run game into a 3-0 lead for the Panthers. Southern limited the damage thanks in part to a terrific catch by , who leaped above the fence to steal a home run from Parks and end the threat.
 led off the seventh with a single but Southern was unable to move her into scoring position.
Boelens led the Salukis at the plate all weekend long, as she was 2-for-3 on Sunday and hit .571 (4-for-7) with two walks and two runs scored in the three-game series.
"Maris has been one of our leaders," Sewell said. "She's been gutsy and has been fighting for every at-bat. She isn't afraid for the season to be over, she's just using her time left here to fight really hard within every at-bat. She had a good plan all weekend. She wasn't all over the place swinging at everything that UNI's pitchers had. She went up knowing what she wanted to hit. Sometimes she would miss it but she would get right back up there and wouldn't get beat on that same pitch again."
Southern's one-through-four hitters were uncharacteristically absent offensively during SIU's three games at UNI, as they combined to go just 1-for-33 with five walks and 12 strikeouts.Â
"You get a fresh start when you get to the tournament," Sewell said. "You get to take a deep breath and start over. If our five-through-nine hitters play like they did this weekend, I have a hard time believing that our one-through-four hitters will stay quiet. There's too much for them to play for and they don't stay quiet for long."
The Salukis end the 2021 regular season with a 34-14 record and a 16-10 record in conference play. Southern will play in the MVC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday, May 13.
