Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Records
 
Upper Iowa (10-22, 3-15 NSIC) || Concordia-St. Paul (23-11, 15-9 NSIC)
 
Recap
 
The Peacock baseball team has played in 32 games this season and in 9 of those games the final margin was just one run… the bad news for Upper Iowa is that the team is just 1-8 in those games including three straight losses by a single run.  Friday afternoon in St. Paul, Minn. the Peacocks lost a pair of NSIC contests to the Golden Bears of Concordia University, St. Paul.
 
Upper Iowa held one-run leads late in both games, but Concordia was able to rally for a pair of wins by scores of 2-1 (8) and 3-2.  Brett Fanning and Martin Valdez both threw well off the mound for Upper Iowa, but UIU still came up on the short end of the scoreboard.
 
Game One
 
In game one, the teams went to the seventh inning scoreless, but Upper Iowa scratched the scoreboard first in the top of the seventh.  The Peacocks put a pair of runners on first and second with one out thanks to a pair of walks and then freshman Mitch Moser came through with a huge double to right center to drive in a run and give the visitors a pair of runners in scoring position with one out.  A strikeout and a ground out kept the runners from scoring and left UIU with a slim one-run lead.
 
Concordia put their first runner on base thanks to a throwing error, but it looked as if UIU might escape the error as they got the lead runner out on a fielder's choice for the first out.  A second error in the inning gave the Golden Bears runners on first and second.  A pinch hit single drove in the tying run, left a pair of runners in scoring position with one out and, after an intentional walk, chased UIU starter Brett Fanning. 
 
Anthony Ruden entered and got the Peacocks out of the jam with a strikeout and a line out to strand three Golden Bears and push the game to extra innings.
 
Tyler Adams recorded his second hit of the game to open the eighth inning and moved to second on a Cody Booker sac bunt.  Unfortunately, UIU was unable to drive Adams to the plate as the game moved to the bottom of the inning.
 
Ruden got a line out to open the innng, but a double put the Peacocks in trouble.  Ruden dug down and got another big strikeout, but a loss of control to the next two batters spelled the end for Upper Iowa.  A wild pitch allowed the runners to move up to second and third and forced UIU to load the bases with an intentional walk trying to set up a force at any base.  The Concordia batter was hit by a pitch on the first offering plating the winning run and sending UIU back to the dugout with a loss.
 
Fanning got a no-decision with 6.1 innings of work allowing just one unearned run on five hits.  Ruden suffered the loss (2-3) with 1.1 innings and one run allowed on just one hit.
 
At the plate, Adams tallied two of UIU's four hits in the game, with Moser picking up the only run-scoring hit.
 
Game Two
 
Upper Iowa put a pair of runners in scoring position with one out thanks to a single by Alex George and a double off the bat of Jacob Stenberg in the top of the second.  Eric Cottrell drove George in with a single through the left side, but Stenberg was stranded at third.
 
Concordia answered with a run in the bottom of the inning with two outs as they tallied back-to-back singles with a man on. 
 
In the third inning, the Peacocks retook their one-run lead when Moser singled through the right side and moved to second on a groundout.  John Dobson singled through the left side plating Moser and giving the visitors the 2-1 advantage.
 
The Golden Bears tied the game with a run in the fifth inning as a pair of hits plated a CU runner.  In the sixth, Concordia had a runner on first with two outs, but two straight singles allowed the go-ahead run to score as the home team took a 3-2 lead into the final inning.
 
In the top of the seventh, Stenberg opened the inning with a single and moved to second with two outs when Sam Kortes singled up the middle.  The Peacocks sent Adams to the plate, but after an 11-pitch at bat, Concordia got a grounder to end the threat and the game.
 
Martin Valdez threw the complete game loss for UIU with 6 innings of work allowing 3 runs on 11 hits while striking out 3 Golden Bears. 
 
At the plate, UIU got two hits from Stenberg as well as hits from five other Peacocks.
 
Next Up
 
The Peacocks and Golden Bears will return to the field tomorrow with a pair of games starting at 12 p.m. in St. Paul, Minn.  Live option links can be found at http://www.upperiowaathletics.com/coverage.aspx.