Mikey Henrichs hit .571 (12-21) this past week as the Peacocks won three of their six contests to move their record to 10-9 overall and 2-0 in the NSIC. Henrichs slugged 1.000 thanks to a pair of homeruns and three doubles. He was a part of 15 UIU runs with 10 rbi’s and 5 runs scored. The Peacock third baseman also walked three times and swiped the only base he attempted to steal. At the hot corner, he made 10 assists for the Peacock defense.
Martin Valdez improved to 3-0 on the season after throwing nine innings on Thursday and allowing just four hits to the Wolves of Northern State while keeping them off the scoreboard to earn a complete game shutout. The junior from Baldwin Park, Calif. struck out nine batters; the second highest total by a Peacock pitcher this season. Thanks to the shutout, Valdez’s earned run average has now dropped to 1.80 in his 25 innings on the hill. The Peacock southpaw worked through a few base runners over the first two innings, but then settled in and retired 18 straight batters from the final out of the second through the second out of the eighth inning.
The Peacocks went 3-3 this week thanks to a midweek sweep of Northern State at home and a 1-3 mark over the weekend on the road at Nebraska-Kearney. Upper Iowa hit .305 for the week and slugged .439 with 10 doubles and five homeruns. Joining Henrichs’ success at the plate was Tyler Adams, Andrew Kraus and Sam Krick, who all hit over .300 from the plate. On the mound, the Peacocks got solid pitching from Eric Anderson, who improved to 4-0 with a win against NSU, Valdez, who threw the shutout on Thursday, and Rory Kolo, who earned a three-inning save on Thursday and then threw a complete game (9 innings) against the Lopers on Sunday to earn the final win of the week for UIU.
Upper Iowa is scheduled to head to Mankato, Minn. this Wednesday, Apr. 10, for a double header against the Mavericks of Minnesota State and then is set to face the Beavers of Minot State on Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 13 and 14.
