This Weekend in Peacock Softball... Due to the snow and freezing temperatures all throughout the north Midwest, the Peacocks and Warriors of Winona State (15-5, 0-0 NSIC) rescheduled their double-header. Both teams will hit the road for a neutral-site matchup in Cedar Rapids, IA on Thursday afternoon at Kirkwood Community College.
The Series... S
ince moving up to Division II play before the 2006 season, the Peacocks and Warriors have squared off a total of 19 times. Uncerimoniously, UIU is just 2-17 against WSU in that time span. The Peacocks last victory over the Warriors came in 2009 in the nightcap game of a double-header in Minnesota.
On Deck... Weather permitting, the Peacocks will begin next week with a Tuesday double-header in Wayne, Nebraska against the Wildcats of Wayne State. UIU will then host back-to-back double-headers over the weekend against two Northern Sun teams. On Saturday, Minot State will visit Fayette and on Sunday the University of Mary will battle it out with the Peacocks inside the Eischeid Softball Complex.
Last Weekend... Two UIU freshman pitchers were instrumental in leading the Peacocks to a sweep of Lewis University last week in the final non-conference games of 2013. In game one, Brooke Redmond went all seven innings, struck out two batters and never gave up a run or walk the entire game in a 2-0 victory. In game two, Jacqueline Flood also went the distance striking out five hitters and earning her fourth victory of the season.
NSIC Rankings... Upper Iowa is off to its best start under Head Coach Anna Van Wetzinga and a big part of that is due to the Peacocks’ early-season offensive firepower and solid pitching. UIU owns the sixth-best batting average in the conference and the fourth-best on-base percentage. The Peacocks are also ranked in second in the NSIC in doubles with 32 total. the top half of the conference in slugging percentage, hits, runs scored, runs batted in, at-bats, triples, walks, total bases, stolen bases. UIU is also ninth in ERA, ninth in earned strikeouts and seventh in wins. .
Halfway Home... The Peacocks own an impressive 11-0 mark this year when they are leading through the fourth inning. Compare that with an 0-6 mark when they are trailing after four innings and you can see why a fast start is key to a Peacock victory.
Solid Starting Lineup... Van Wetzinga has not made a lot of adjustments to the starting lineup this season as all four infield positions and all three outfield spots have seen the same starters for the entirety of the season. Besides pitching, catchers
Tara Duran and
Erica Kirgan are the only two players who rotate starts this season for the Peacocks.
Redmond Earns NSIC Pitcher of the Week Honors... The Northern Sun Conference named Brooke Redmond the NSIC Pitcher of the week this past week after an impressive complete-game shutout against Lewis University last Wednesday. This is the thirteenth award for Upper Iowa this year and the first time a UIU softball player has been honored by the conference. The Basehor, Kansas native went all seven innings in game one of a double-header with the Flyers giving up only seven hits, no runs and no walks. Redmond lowered her season’s earned run average to 2.00 through 56 total innings. Her ERA currently ranks tenth out of all the conference pitchers in 2013. It was also Redmond’s seventh win this season - most by any Peacock pitcher this year.
Hot Start... The Peacocks have jumped out to a 13-7 start in 2013 - their best start since moving up to Division II play before the 2006 season. UIU has two more road wins (7) than all of last year and the Peacocks’ have already matched their neutral site win total of last season (6).
Special Senior Class... All three softball seniors are team captains in 2013 and all three have been impressive during the non-conference schedule. After totaling 3 RBI against Lewis, Hailley Haning leads the groups with 13 total runs batted in and 7 doubles this year. Rachael Anello leads the upperclassmen with a .333 batting average and a .406 on-base percentage. Bailee Haberman rounds out the group with three stolen bases this year, a .966 fielding percentage and 18 hits including four doubles and 12 RBI.
Freshman Phenom... Lauren Marlinghaus has hit the ground running in 2013. The newcomer from O’Fallon Township High School has started every game this year at third base and has been red hot from the batters’ box. Although her 11-game hit streak ended at Truman State, she started a new two-game hit streak against Lewis University. Her 21 hits this year is tied for first on the team, while her .471 on-base percentage and .362 hitting percentage are currently second behind Tara Duran. Marlinghaus is also second on the team with a .517 slugging percentage and is tied for fourth with Adrienna Olson with 10 RBI in 2013.
Peacock Pitching Power... Jacqueline Flood went the distance in game two against the Flyers last week totaling the 10th complete game for UIU this year. Comparably, opponents have only seven complete games against UIU.
Tune In... The Peacocks’ game this week will be available to follow from your home through the live stats link listed above.
Click here to follow all of the action as it happens live or stay tuned to upperiowaathletics.com to read the postgame recap.
