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Records

Upper Iowa (18-26, 11-13 NSIC) || Minnesota Crookston (3-32, 1-21 NSIC)
 

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Summary

A dominant second-game performance on both sides of the ball propelled the Upper Iowa softball team to a sweep at home over visiting Minnesota Crookston on Friday afternoon in Fayette. The Peacocks scored 14 runs in game two of their doubleheader thanks to RBIs from nine different players and home runs from three different Peacocks. Match that up with a dominant pitching performance from Brooke Redmond and it equals a recipe for success. The 14-1 win was the icing on the cake for the home team after UIU earned a come-from-behind, 4-2, victory in game one. The Peacocks look to extend their new-found three-game win streak tomorrow at noon as UIU hosts Bemidji State for an NSIC doubleheader. During the intermission of that game, Upper Iowa will honor its three seniors - Kayla Bergman, Brooklyn Koranda and Adrienna Olson. 
 Game One Recap | UIU – 4, UMC – 2

Despite retiring the first three batters she faced in the top of the first inning of game one, pitcher Jacqueline Flood gave way in the top of the second as the Golden Eagles scratched the scoreboard first. With two runners on, UMC's Brooke Timmins connected on a high fly-ball to centerfield before sprinting to second. The ball went all the way to the wall and the visitors took a 2-0 lead on the double. 

UIU punched right back as the Peacocks scored two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. Lauren Marlinghaus led-off with a walk before Whitney Williams doubled to left-center. Shelby Crist brought home one of two baserunners with an RBI-single to short - a play she beat out at first base. Seconds later, the Golden Eagles made a mistake that brought Williams home as well. The junior from Pella, Iowa scored on a wild pitch and just like that, the game was tied. 

Neither team could push across another run until the Peacocks came to the plate in the bottom of the fifth. 

After two outs and a home run that was called back due to a baserunner leaving early, the Peacocks took their first lead. Jacqueline Flood, who thought she may have had her fourth jack of the year, drew a walk before Erica Kirgan and Marlinghaus earned back-to-back singles - the second of which brought Flood across home plate. Williams continued the streak with her own single - this one a blooper down the left-field line - as Kirgan scored from third. 

That was all Flood needed to wrap up the win from the rubber. After giving up the two runs in the second inning, the sophomore right-hander was solid. Flood gave up just three hits, two runs, while striking out seven. She also earned the win - her fifth of the year. 
 Game Two Recap | UIU – 14, UMC – 1 (5 Inn.)

The Peacocks entered game two looking for a sweep. Coming into the weekend, Upper Iowa had split with all but one team at home this year, so the Peacocks were out for blood early and often. 

Sophomore southpaw Brooke Redmond hit the century mark with three straight K's to start the game. Following her 100th strikeout of the year, the UIU bats came alive. Katie Mnichowicz led-off the bottom of the first with a single to left. She later advanced on a sac-bunt before scoring on an RBI-single from Kirgan. The Peacocks didn't settle for a 1-0 lead though, as Marlinghaus brought Kirgan all the way home from first with a stand-up double to the gap in right-center. 

The home team then added to their lead in the bottom of the second inning after another 1, 2, 3 inning from Redmond and the defense. Senior Kayla Bergman was the first to get on base as she singled to right. Crist then reached on an error before Adrienna Olson laid down an ideal sac-bunt down to advance the runners. Mnichowicz brought one-of-two home with a sac-fly before Riley Kruel pushed UIU out to a 4-0 lead with a one-bag rip to left field. 

Redmond continued her dominant pitching performance with K's six and seven in the top of the third as UIU held UMC without a hit through three innings. In the bottom of the inning, Bergman earned her second run-batted-in of the year with her second single to left, which brought Marlinghaus home from third. The Peacock defense kept up the pressure as they held the Golden Eagles hitless and scoreless in the top of the fourth. 

That's when UIU broke lose. The Peacocks were flirting with a big-inning, but it didn't come until the bottom of the fourth. From the top of the order, Mnichowicz and Kruel both earned singles before Jacqueline Flood busted the game open. Flood earned her fourth home run of the season just seconds before Kirgan followed suit with her own homer - a straight-away jack. The back-to-back bombs pushed the home team out to a 9-0 lead, but UIU wasn't done yet. 

A UMC pitching change couldn't stop the Peacocks from racking up three more singles, two doubles and a home run, the latter of which came from Mara Jones as the sophomore earned her first collegiate home run on a two-run bomb over the right-center fence. The singles came from Casey Musgrave, Katie Sammons and Cheyenne Burnett. Tara Duran brought Musgrave and Sammons home with a double to the wall in centerfield before Jones' homer brought Burnett across the diamond. Megan Butler kept the inning alive with a double to left, but was stranded on second. 

In all, the Peacocks scored nine runs off ten hits in the fourth inning to take a commanding 14-0 lead. But the game wasn't in the books just yet. Moreover, Redmond still had a perfect game in tact. 

The Basehor, Kansas native was just three outs away, but one pitch got away from her. The Golden Eagles' Alexis Khoshaba connected on her third home run of the year in the top of the fifth, ending the no-hitter. Brooklyn Koranda was subbed in to seal the victory as the Peacocks earned the final three outs, the 14-1 win, and the sweep. 
 

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Up Next

UIU will host Bemidji State University at noon on Saturday as part of its senior-day festivities. The Peacocks will honor their three seniors -- Kayla Bergman, Brooklyn Koranda and Adrienna Olson -- during intermission of the twin bill.