CEDAR FALLS - Making the move from junior college to NCAA Division I athletics isn't always easy.

University of Northern Iowa softball coach Ryan Jacobs can attest to that. Jacobs played junior college baseball for two years before finishing his career at UNI.

"You've got an experience you were comfortable at, and all of sudden you get put into another situation where the level of play is higher and teams do things different," Jacobs said of the move to Division I athletics. "It's just one of those things where you basically have two freshman years out of your four years at school."

In the midst of UNI's breakthrough season, two junior college transfers have made major contributions for the Panthers.

After rocky junior campaigns in which they saw limited playing time, Crystal Keiper and Brittney Balduf have become strong, everyday infielders. They're part of a UNI team that will be making its first postseason appearance in seven years at 6:30 tonight in Peoria, Ill., in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.

UNI has gone from 5-16 last season to a school-record 15-11 in league play, while also obtaining the tournament's No. 3 seed.

Balduf, a NIACC transfer, was recruited by the Panthers' previous coaching staff. She decided to stay with the program once Jacobs took over. Keiper, a Kirkwood transfer, was Jacobs' first signee.

Both transfers had plenty of success at the junior college level. Keiper was a former first team all-region selection, and Balduf hit a combined .386 with 18 home runs and 75 RBIs in two seasons.

However, inconsistency on defense kept them from being in the lineup each game last season.

"It was really a tough junior year for both of them," said Jacobs, who was also in his first season as a collegiate head coach. "Everybody was learning new things together."

The two transfers each went into the offseason with plenty of determination and took over at their respective positions in the fall.

"Both defensively have been really big for our whole team," Jacobs said. "Crystal has been solid at second base in every single game this year.

"Brittney has been solid in 98 percent of our games at third base, and has made probably the biggest jump out of any players in our program as far as one year to the next in how they approach the game defensively.

"I know they both take a lot of pride in their defense and use that as a tool that fuels their competitive drive."

Both believe the increased speed of play was among the factors that contributed to their initial struggles at UNI.

"Every single pitch, every single inning, you have to be focused," Keiper said. "You have to be locked in, in order to be successful.

Heading into her senior year, Balduf also decided to change her mental approach.

"Instead of just letting the game come to me, I think I was putting too much pressure on myself and being too disappointed when I didn't come through for my teammates," she said.

Offensively, Balduf has also seen an increase in production. Her 10 home runs this season match her hit total from a year ago when she batted .133. Balduf has 31 hits this year and 24 RBIs.

As a team, UNI leads the MVC in batting average, runs, RBIs and has twice as many home runs as any other team in the league. Despite that ability to score runs, the Panthers believe defense will still determine how far they go in the tournament.

"You can always fall back on your defense and you can always make the plays," Keiper said. "I feel like we really had the chemistry there this year.

"We picked each other up. … We feed off each other's confidence on the field."

Plenty of parity could be found in the MVC this season, setting the stage for a wide-open tournament. Top seed Creighton has six league losses.

"Our conference win-loss column, one through 10, was pretty even," Balduf said. "I don't think anybody was really out of it, and that's why it was basically decided in the last weekend. I think our conference tournament is going to be a lot of fun."

Following their final year of softball eligibility, Balduf and Keiper each have a few more classes to finish at UNI. Keiper plans to go into teaching, while Balduf will pursue graduate school and is looking into health administration programs.