Upper Iowa won a pair of Northern Sun Conference games at home today over the Golden Eagles of Minnesota, Crookston. UMC was the home team on the field and scoreboard as the games were originally scheduled for northwest Minnesota this weekend, but field conditions did not allow for that.
The Peacocks won the first game 3-0 behind another dominant performance by senior Josh McKeon and timely hitting from freshman Matt Corbitt.
The UIU bats came alive in game two in support of starter Tyler Beck. The Peacocks won scored 22 runs on 20 hits, while Beck held the Golden Eagles to just 4 runs on 7 hits in his 6 innings of work. UIU won the contest 22-5.
The two wins improve Upper Iowa’s record to 11-14 overall and 5-7 in NSIC play, while Minnesota, Crookston falls to 0-16 on the season and 0-8 in conference action.
Detailed recaps of the games appear below.
UIU and UMC will get back on the field tomorrow for another double header at Robertson Woods Field at 11 a.m.
Game One Recap
The Peacocks were the first on the board in the top of the fourth with a pair of runs on a Matt Corbitt two-out single to center field. Pat Arntson, who singled to right center, and Matt Smoley, who walked, both scored on the play. Upper Iowa added a run in the seventh when Mikey Henrichs and Pat Arntson singled on back-to-back at bats and Henrichs scored on a wild pitch.
Josh McKeon evened his season’s record to 2-2 with a complete game shutout. The right hander from Rochester, Minn. recorded 14 of his 21 outs by strikeout while walking only one Golden Eagle. McKeon dominated the UMC bats allowing only 3 singles in the game.
Game Two Recap
Upper Iowa sent nine batters to the plate in the first inning and pushed four runs across. Arntson drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly before Corbitt doubled to the gap in left center to plate two more UIU runners. William Loza singled to center with two outs to plate Corbitt for the final run of the inning.
After the Golden Eagles scored a run in the bottom of the first, the Peacocks added two more to take a 6-1 lead in the second. Rudy Casillas came home on a single by Arntson that was mishandled by the UMC center fielder. Eric Anderson singled home Arntson, who reached third on the error, with a grounder through the left side.
Kody McCauley gave UIU a 9-1 lead in the top of the fourth when he launched a homerun over the wall in right field driving in Arntson and Anderson. The homer was McCauley’s third of the year and the Peacocks’ first blast at Robertson Woods Field this season.
Arntson added three more runs with a blast over the leftfield wall just inside of the foul pole to chase Nick Bergeman and Casillas home. The blast was Arntson’s first of the season and gave Upper Iowa a 12-1 lead with no outs in the fifth. The Peacocks continued their onslaught loading the bases on an error, a walk and a single by Rory Kolo. Loza hit a no-doubt grand slam over the fence in left centerfield to push UIU out to a 16-1 lead.
The Golden Eagles scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth to cut the gap to 16-4, but the Peacocks answered with six runs in the top of the seventh to move ahead 22-4. Rodriguez hit an rbi-double and Juve Reyes added a two-run single in the inning. Eric Anderson hit Upper Iowa's fourth homerun of the day to cap off a six-run inning; the big blast just missed hitting the scoreboard in right center.
The Golden Eagles scored one run in the bottom of the seventh, but the game was ended after the inning due to the 10-run rule after seven innings.
Tyler Beck evened his record at 1-1 with a quality start of 6 innings; he allowed four runs on seven hits while striking out seven.
