Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Records

Upper Iowa (13-23, 6-10 NSIC) || Concordia - St. Paul (15-25, 10-10 NSIC)
 Summary

For the first time in almost two years, the Upper Iowa softball team was swept at home as the Peacocks dropped a pair of conference matchups with the Golden Bears of Concordia University - St. Paul on Wednesday afternoon in Fayette. Despite two late-inning comebacks from the home team, the Golden Bears' used stellar pitching and a few timely big-hits to earn a 7-4 victory in game one and an 8-3 win in game two. The sweep drops UIU to 6-10 in conference play this year, while CU bounces back to .500 in the NSIC.
 Game One Recap - UIU 4, CU - 7

The Upper Iowa coaching staff knew they need a strong start if they were to get an upper hand on the visiting team. The Peacocks followed that gameplan on defense. Jacqueline Flood stranded one Golden Bear in the top of the first as the team posted back-to-back scoreless innings to begin the game. But the offense couldn't provide any run support. CU's right-hander Stephanie Kappes dismissed the first six batters she faced before her team took the lead in the top of the third.

UIU was just one out away from another scoreless inning in the third, but an RBI-triple changed that in a hurry. Teona Zepeda brought home the first run of the day as the visitors took a 1-0 lead. The Peacocks looked to respond in the bottom of the inning, but the CU defense stranded a pair of Peacocks on the bags and UIU was stifled.

That's when the Golden Bears took full control of the game. Liz Jarosz connected on a lead-off home run in the fourth before Tessa Ewert added runs three and four with her own bomb over the fence.

UIU got on the board for the first time in the fifth inning thanks to a RBI-single to left field from Katie Mnichowicz, but CU answered back immediately. The Golden Bears added three more runs in the top of the sixth as the visitor's lead swelled to six runs, 7-1.

The Peacocks' bats came alive in the bottom of the inning, but it was too little too late. Despite two more runs batted in from Mnichowicz on a single up the middle and one more RBI from Shelby Crist, the Golden Bears lead was still intact. Kappes got out of the inning before adding her tenth and eleventh strikeouts of the game in the bottom of the seventh as CU sealed the 7-4 victory.
 Game Two Recap - UIU 3, CU 8

Despite the win in game one, the visitors were hungry and it didn't take long for CU to strike the scoreboard in the nightcap. Jarosz earned another RBI in the top of the first as she doubled to right-center. Two innings later, the Golden Bears added two more runs before UIU could answer back.

In the bottom of the fourth, Jacqueline Flood began a hit streak for UIU with a single to right field. She was subbed for pinch-runner Madie Wilkin before Erica Kirgan earned another single - this one getting past the defense, right up the middle. Whitney Williams continued the streak as she brought Wilkin home from second with a double. The RBI was the ninth of the year for Williams, but that's where UIU's offensive spurt stopped. CU ended the inning and went back to work on offense.

With a runner on second in the fifth, Jarosz earned her second jack of the day as she put her team up, 5-1. That two-run blast helped the visitors stay out in front before the Peacocks could respond in the bottom of the inning. UIU added runs two and three thanks to a double from Mnichowicz, a single from Riley Kruel and a two-RBI single right up the middle from Jacqueline Flood. The sophomore from Mount Vernon, Illinois pulled the home team within two runs, 5-3, thanks to her clutch hit, but UIU couldn't close the gap.

The Golden Bears added to their lead in the top of the sixth as Jarosz followed up an RBI-double with her third homer of the day - another two run blast. This time, the Peacocks couldn't find an answer and dropped the decision, 8-3.
 Up Next

Upper Iowa will look to bounce back this Friday as the team heads to Marshall, Minnesota to face Southwest Minnesota State in a 1 p.m. NSIC-tilt.