EVANSVILLE, Ind. – A walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh from UNI's Hannah Kelley ended third-seeded Missouri State's run at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in gut-wrenching fashion as the Bears fell 3-2 to the Panthers in the semifinals here Friday at Cooper Stadium.
 
The Bears (26-17) broke through against MVC Pitcher of the Year, Kailyn Packard (21-5), right off the bat with a two-run first before the Panthers ace settled in to string together six straight scoreless innings.
 
UNI (31-17) scattered nine hits and put together three one-run innings with the final one coming on the game-winning hit to send the No. 2 seeded club to tomorrow's championship where they will face SIU.
 
"I'm so proud of the effort and togetherness we showed these past two days during the biggest challenge of the year," said Bears head coach Holly Hesse.  "The team gave everything they had and battled the whole game just like they've done all season long.  I couldn't be prouder of the year and the tournament we had."
 
Steffany Dickerson battled Packard, frame-for-frame, through the first five innings and held a salty Panthers lineup in check for the duration.  UNI came into the game averaging a league-best 5.4 runs per game.
 
Plummer picked up right where she left off from Thursday's four-hit performance with a leadoff double to open the game and set the stage once again for the Bears.  She teamed up with Skyler Shaw as the quick-footed freshman baited an errant throw on her sacrifice bunt attempt that brought Plummer across for the game's first run. 
 
Later in the opening frame, Shaw raced home on a wild pitch to make it 2-0 for a Bears squad that came into today's contest with a 19-4 record when scoring first.
 
The Panthers answered with a run in their first trip to the plate as an RBI groundout from Emmy Wells cut the Bears lead in half in the bottom of the first.
 
Dickerson got a big lift from her outfield in back-to-back innings, beginning with Kelly Metter gunning down a Panthers runner at the plate to preserve MSU's one-run lead in the second.  Tess Weakly followed with a diving snow-cone catch in right field in the bottom of the third to steal a base hit for another highlight-reel moment.
 
However, an RBI double from UNI's Sammy Moss in the bottom of the fourth finally cracked the Bears defense as her one-out hit landed just past a diving attempt from Metter in left field to draw the game even.
 
Madison Hunsaker (10-5) entered in relief of Dickerson in a pivotal spot in the bottom of the sixth as she faced a two-on, nobody out situation.  The senior southpaw quickly extinguished the threat after she was on the front end of a 1-5-3 double play and then induced a soft lineout to keep the deadlock intact.
 
In the top of the seventh, a one-out walk from Metter gave the Bears their first baserunner since Weakly's leadoff single in the fourth, but Packard retired the next two batters to bring out the UNI bats for their walk-off opportunity.
 
With runners at second and third, Hunsaker looked to halt a second straight Panthers rally with a strikeout before Kelley's two-out game-winner delivered the heartbreaking blow to MSU's season.
 
Weakly had two of the Bears' four hits in the contest as she went 2-for-3 at the plate and smacked her team-high ninth double of the season.
 
With her third extra-base hit of the tournament coming in her first at-bat of the day, Plummer ends the year with a 13-game hitting streak to go along with a 20-game reached base stretch.
 
Metter's run-saving play in the bottom of the second was her second straight game – and third overall – with an outfield assist.
 
Missouri State closes out the year with a 26-17 ledger and finished in the top-3 of the league standings for the second time in the past three conference seasons.  The Bears went 16-6 in MVC play to total at least 16 conference wins for the fifth time in program history.  Coach Hesse increased her overall win total to 844 career victories.