Game One Box Score ||
Game Two Box Score
The Peacocks and Beavers split their double header on day two in Fayette. Bemidji State took the first game by a 7-2 count, but Upper Iowa held on to an early lead in game two to post a 13-9 win in the second game. With the split, UIU is now 7-8 on the year and 1-3 in the Northern Sun, while BSU is 9-9 overall and 3-1 in NSIC play.
The Beavers held the Peacock offense down for the third straight contest in game one, but the Peacock bats came alive for 21 hits in the final game of the series in support of Fabian Lopez (3-1), who picked up his team-high third win of the season.
Full details of each game can be found below.
Upper Iowa will head out on the road this Wednesday with a non-conference double header at Quincy in Quincy, Illinois, but the Peacocks will return to Robertson Woods Field next weekend. UIU will host the Bulldogs of Minnesota Duluth next Saturday and Sunday, April 2 and 3. Saturday’s first pitch is set for 1 p.m., while Sunday’s opens at 12 p.m.
Game One Recap
Bemidji State used five runs in the second inning to take control early in the contest. All five runs came off Peacock starter Brett Westra (0-1). Josh Luke pitched well in relief throwing four innings while allowing two runs on a homerun by Brian Murphy over the leftfield wall.
Upper Iowa scored a run in the fifth inning when Matt Corbitt, Mikey Henrichs and Nick Bergman strung three singles together around an out. Bergman’s single to right plated Corbitt. The Peacocks second run came in the sixth inning after Kody McCauley was hit by a pitch with one out and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Luis Rodrgiuez singled and Henrichs got his second single of the day to push McCauley across the plate.
BSU’s starter Ryan Brezinski got the win (2-0) with five innings allowing one run on six hits while striking out three.
The Peacocks tallied 8 hits in the game led by Henrichs, Corbitt, and Bergman who all had two hits.
Game Two Recap
The Peacocks started game two of their doubleheader against BSU with an offensive eruption including seven hits and seven runs to open up the first inning of play. The inning included five straight singles for the first five batters. Matt Smoley, Rory Kolo, Ryan Citro, recorded singles and rbi’s, while Nick Bergman recorded two singles and two rbi’s to spark the offensive start.
In the third inning, the Beavers got on the board after their rough start with a two-run homer from Colton Smith after the first batter was hit by a pitch.
The UIU offense continued to shine in the third and fourth innings with Ryan Smoley driving in two runs on an rbi-double after Nick Bergman plated Citro with his second rbi-single. Citro recorded his third double of the afternoon prior to being driven home by Bergman. William Loza added an rbi-single to drive in Rory Kolo, who recorded his third hit of the game with a double, in the fourth inning.
The Beavers did not pack their bags early; BSU scored two runs in the sixth, three in the seventh and two more in the eighth to cut the Peacock lead to just two, 11-9. The Bemidji State rally was fueled by a two-run shot over the wall in left by Matt Ellinghuysen.
The Peacocks put a pair of insurance runs on the board in the bottom of the eighth. Brett Cleveringa got the inning started with a double to left. Matt Corbitt drove the run in with a single through the left side to drive in UIU’s twelfth run. Corbitt scored the final run of the game with smart base running on an infield single by Citro.
Mario Madera threw 2.2 innings in relief of Lopez. Madera allowed two runs on six hits, while striking out a pair of Beaver batters.
Lopez earned the win with 6.1 innings, but he allowed seven run on eleven hits while striking out three.
Citro and Kolo each tallied four hits for UIU, while Bergman and Loza each added three hits. Bergman and Smoley drove in three runs apiece.
