Live Stats versus Southwest Minnesota State
 
Live Stats versus Minnesota, Crookston

This Week in Peacock Baseball… The Peacock baseball team’s 2013 season openers are here.  Upper Iowa will play four games in less than 24 hours in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn.  The team will take the field against a pair of NSIC members in two non-conference double headers.  UIU will face the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State on Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. and then retake the field on Friday morning at 6 a.m. to face the Golden Eagles of Minnesota, Crookston.
 
Last Season for the Peacocks… The Peacock baseball team ended their season with a 20-30 overall mark and a 16-19 mark in the Northern Sun.  The team finished in seventh place and one game out of the Northern Sun Championships. 
 
High Five… UIU's centerfielder, Tyler Adams (#5), was selected as an American Baseball Coaches Association, or ABCA, and Rawlings First Team All-Central Region performer and also earned a First Team Gold Glove thanks to just one error in the Peacock outfield.  Adams was also named to the All-Central Region Second Team by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.  The Onalaska, Wis. native was named to the All-NSIC First Team and also earned a spot on the NSIC Gold Glove Team a week ago.  For the season, Adams hit .410 in 200 at bats, a new Peacock single-season record for at bats in a season.  Adams had 82 hits, five short of the single-season mark for Upper Iowa, including 10 doubles and triple while striking out only 12 times.  He scored 43 runs and drove in 28 runners and swiped 14 of 18 bases for the year making only one error in 140 chances for a .993 fielding percentage.  Adams hit .482 with runners in scoring position and converted on over 82% of his chances with runners on third and less than two out picking up 14 runs batted in. Adams recorded mulitiple hits in a game 27 times in his 50 starts for Upper Iowa.  He registered four hits versus Northern State on Apr. 21; the southpaw swinger had three hits 10 times and two hits in 16 games.  Adams long hit streak for the season was 9 games and he closed the year on a 16-game streak of reaching base safely.

A Closer Look at the Mustangs… SMSU finished last season with a 22-23 overall and finished ninth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.  On the mound, SMSU returns its most valuable pitcher from last season in senior Alex Alvarez.  The right-hander appeared in 11 games with six starts last season and finished 3-4 with a 3.49 ERA in a team-high 49 innings with 32 strikeouts.  Alvarez anchors a 2013 staff that combined to make just 10 starts last season. The SMSU offense will be led by senior first baseman Brian Ness, who clubbed a team-high four home runs with a team-high 36 RBIs in 2012.  Ness also led the team with 47 base hits and added nine doubles.  Junior shortstop Ben Korger batted .301 last season with 13 doubles, two triples and a team-high 11 stolen bases.  Also returning is sophomore outfielder Jon Ellis, who batted .322 with eight doubles and 20 RBIs a season ago.

A Closer Look at the Golden Eagles… UMC is coming off of a 10-36 (4-28 NSIC) mark last season including memorable victories against University of Minnesota Duluth and Augustana College (S.D.). UMC returns four players that started 30 or more games last season in the field led by UMC Players to Watch Josh Brehmer and Matt Korte. Brehmer led the Golden Eagles with a .346 batting average, 17 runs scored and 18 RBI's. Korte hit .317 on the year and was also one of UMC's top starting pitchers appearing nine times with 40.2 innings pitched with a 2-6 record and a 7.30 ERA. Korte leads a group of returning pitchers that is highlighted by five players, including Korte, who pitched in 25 or more innings last season. The Golden Eagles also return Joe Miller, who led the team in ERA last season, Ryan Paasch, Brooks Miller and Kyle Kleven.