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THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK SOFTBALL... The Upper Iowa softball team enters the NSIC Softball Tournament for the second straight year this Thursday. The Peacocks drew the ninth seed in the upcoming tournament thanks to a 5-1 record last week. UIU split with No. 17 and third-seeded Augustana before sweeping UMC and BSU at home. The Peacocks will now face eighth-seeded Minot State (28-18, 15-13 NSIC) in the opening round. The teams will get underway on Thursday at 10 a.m. at Sherman Park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Live stats, which are provided by the NSIC, will be available for the game.

"RED-MOND", WHITE AND BLUE... Upper Iowa's Brooke Redmond (14-11) was named NSIC Pitcher of the Week this week after earning a 3-0 record, 23 Ks and an ERA of 0.34. Redmond capped that perfect weekend off this past Saturday with a 7-6 victory in extra innings over BSU. Redmond allowed a total of just 14 hits through 20 and two-thirds innings, while striking out 23 batters. The three wins gives her 14 victories in a single season for the second straight year. To read the full release, click here.

ON DECK... Regardless of Thursday morning's outcome versus Minot State, the Peacocks will play game two of the NSIC Softball Tournament later that day at either 2 or 4 p.m. with the opponent still to be decided. Click here to review the tournament bracket.

THE SERIES... Minot State holds a 5-2 lead in its series with Upper Iowa since the squads first met back in 2012. The Beavers were the Peacocks' second opponent in the NSIC Tournament last year, but Minot State pulled off the 5-1 victory to advance to the next round, ultimately kicking the Peacocks to an elimination game versus Wayne State. When the teams met this year, the Peacocks pulled out the early victory, 5-3, behind solid pitching and a big first inning. The Beavers bounced back in game two to earn the split with a 4-0 victory in Minot, North Dakota.

"SKIP" TO MY LOU... Upper Iowa's third-baseman Lauren Marlinghaus – who's better known as "Skip" to her teammates – earned her first collegiate walk-off home run and her fifth jack of the season this past Tuesday against No. 17 Augustana to defeat Augie, 1-0, at home. Marlinghaus' homer helped the Peacocks go 5-1 this past week to conclude conference play. Overall, she posted a .556 batting average, a .889 slugging percentage and a .619 on-base percentage while earning three doubles and that home run. Furthermore, Upper Iowa's third-baseman added five RBIs to her stat line – all coming one game at a time through the first five games of the week. Thanks to her outstanding week, Marlinghaus is now ranked 20th in the NSIC in conference batting average (.378), 13th in slugging percentage (.649), and 17th in on-base percentage (.452). Her three doubles this past week now gives her up to eight this year in conference play, which is fifth-best in the league.

WEEKLY RECAP... Upper Iowa posted a 5-1 record this past week as they swept Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston and split with No. 17 Augustana at home. UIU came out strong against Augie on Tuesday and despite tying the game late, the Vikings earned the go-ahead RBI in the seventh inning to steal a 6-5 victory in game one. The Peacocks battled back in game two thanks to seven scoreless innings from UIU's southpaw Brooke Redmond. With the game tied, 0-0, the teams headed to the bottom of the seventh. The Peacocks' third baseman Lauren Marlinghaus needed to see just one pitch to change the entire game. She sent the first pitch she saw over the fence in left field for her first collegiate walk-off home run. UIU then followed that up with four big wins against UMC and BSU this past Friday and Saturday. The Peacocks blew past UMC, 4-2 and 14-1, on Friday before outlasting BSU, 6-0 and 7-6, on Saturday. The final game of the weekend went to extra-innings, but UIU's senior second baseman Adrienna Olson ripped an RBI-double to right to bring Shelby Crist all the way home from first base. The score came in the bottom of the tenth inning as UIU earned its second walk-off victory in the past six games.

OLSON ORDERS UP A LITTLE SENIOR MAGIC... Playing in her final home game of her four-year career, senior second-baseman Adrienna Olson was called upon with the game on the line. Tied 6-6 in the bottom of the tenth, Olson delivered a walk-off double to the gap in right-center, which gave Shelby Crist just enough time to score from first. It was a perfect ending to a storied career.

PRESEASON POLL... The annual 2014 Softball Coaches Preseason Poll predicted Upper Iowa would finish the regular season 10th out of 16 conference teams after accumulating 111 points. UIU finished the 2013 season with a 28-16 record, nearly twice as many wins as the prior season. Last year, the team finished fifth in the NSIC standings. This will also be the second time in a row that the Peacocks have entered the postseason.

LIVE STATS... Don't miss a single moment of the action on Thursday! Follow the live stats from Sioux Falls for each and every contest taking place. The links are provided by the Northern Sun Conference. Click here to view the stats.