Back injury sidelines UNI’s top pitcher

The Northern Iowa softball team will be without its top pitcher for an indefinite period of time. Junior Melinda McClintock was diagnosed with a fractured vertebra in her back prior to the Panthers Missouri Valley Conference series at Creighton. U-N-I coach Sara Hayes who says McClintock has been bothered by back problems before and the trainers had tried to keep good track of her health. Hayes says it’s a chronic situation that’s plagued McClintock and now she plans to meet with an orthopedic surgeon.Hayes says it was unexpected news that was a shocking blow to the team.McClintock is 12-5 this season with an earned run average of one-point-five-nine.