CEDAR FALLS - Last week, the University of Northern Iowa softball team found out what can happen if it doesn't maintain a sharp competitive edge.

Saturday and Sunday, the Panthers stropped their razor and carved up Evansville in a three-game Missouri Valley Conference sweep that pushed UNI (24-11 overall, 8-3 MVC) back into the top three in the league standings.

After dropping three straight while surrendering 28 runs, the Panthers gave up just seven against the Aces. Jen Larsen led the way, firing 17 innings of one-run softball.

"We went into the weekend wanting to get focused and rejuvenated after a tough week," said coach Ryan Jacobs.

"We played great in game one (a 9-0 win). We swung the bats well, we pitched great, and we played great defense, and it carried us through the whole weekend."

UNI faces a challenging week, beginning today with a makeup doubleheader against league-leading Creighton that will be played in Des Moines. Wednesday, UNI plays a doubleheader at the University of Wisconsin before a Friday-Saturday MVC series at Robinson-Dresser Complex against Wichita State.

"I think our kids are refocused and ready to go down the home stretch of the season here," said Jacobs.

Panther sophomore Rachel Gerking of Spirit Lake was named the Missouri Valley player of the week. She hit safely in all seven games, including a two-homer performance and finished the week with three homers, two doubles, nine total hits and nine RBIs. Her hit Sunday drove home the game-winning run in a 10-inning victory that allowed UNI to sweep Evansville on the road.

BASEBALL: What began as a promising week turned into what coach Rick Heller called a nightmare weekend as his Panthers were swept by Indiana State in a Missouri Valley Conference series at Riverfront Stadium.

UNI (12-16 overall, 2-7 MVC) defeated Clarke College, 9-6, in its home opener Tuesday, then took a 9-7 decision from 25th-ranked Minnesota Wednesday at the Metrodome before the Friday-Saturday disaster.

While Heller wasn't pleased with his team's offensive production against Indiana State (eight runs in three games), it was the Panthers' bullpen that struggled the most.

"I think that might be the big story of this weekend," said Heller. "We played the two mid-week games and a lot of those guys threw an inning or two innings Tuesday or Wednesday, and unfortunately they were not sharp when they came back this weekend and it really hurt us. We gave up a lot of runs late in the game out of the bullpen."

The Panthers are scheduled to host South Dakota State Wednesday before a Valley series at Creighton Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

"We need to get things turned around quickly in the conference if we have any hope of making the conference tournament, which obviously is one of our number one goals," said Heller.

"For us, at this point we just need to get back out on the field and try to regroup and play with a little more energy."

TRACK AND FIELD: UNI sent a small group of athletes to the Texas Relays last week while most of the squad traveled to Central College for a smaller meet Friday and Saturday.

With a stiff wind blowing in Texas, Mat Clark and Dani Stipe met provisional NCAA qualifying marks in the decathlon and heptathlon, respectively, while the men's 4x800 relay took third against a talented field.

At Central College, where it was also cold and windy, the Panthers won eight events with Sarah Harms setting a personal best of 48 feet, 9 inches in the shotput, the second-best mark in school history. Harms met the NCAA regional qualifying standard, as did high jumper Ehi Oamen, who cleared 6-10.

UNI is taking most of its squad to the Sun Devil Invitational at Arizona State University this weekend.

WOMEN'S TENNIS: Coach Sachin Kirtane's team erased some of the sting of Saturday's 4-3 Missouri Valley loss to Evansville by knocking off Southern Illinois by the same margin Sunday.

"It (Evansville) was a tough loss because I think we're definitely better than Evansville," said Kirtane. "They knew I was really disappointed that we could not put away Evansville, and it was going to be real interesting to me to see how they would come out and respond when we were playing a Southern Illinois team that is way better than Evansville and has already beaten Evansville.

"(Sunday) we were a completely different team. I'm proud of them for the way they responded."

UNI can turn its Missouri Valley season around this weekend. The Panthers are at Indiana State Friday, at Illinois State Saturday and at Bradley Sunday.

Contact Doug Newhoff at (319) 291-1467 or doug.newhoff@wcfcourier.com