Box Score NSIC/ US BANK SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT BRACKET
TOURNAMENT WEBSITE
Tweet to @UIU_Softball 

Photo Galleries

Records

Upper Iowa (21-28) || #18 Winona State (41-7)
 Summary

Despite home runs from Jacqueline Flood and Lauren Marlinghaus, the Upper Iowa softball team could not keep pace with the 18th-ranked Warriors of Winona State in Friday's elimination game in the 2014 NSIC Softball Tournament. The Peacocks gave up three runs in the first inning and trailed 4-0 before the two bombs and an Adrienna Olson RBI pulled UIU even at 4-4 midway through the sixth inning. The Warriors responded in the bottom half of the inning with three runs to ultimately seal the victory, 7-4. The loss ends Upper Iowa's season, while Winona State advances to the next round of elimination games. 
 Game One Recap | UIU – 4, WSU – 7 | Box Score

Three mistakes in the bottom of the first inning from the Upper Iowa defense cost the Peacocks the lead. Both the lead-off hitter and the two-hole hitter reached on fielding errors before a single loaded the bases. A wild pitch brought one run home as the Warriors took a 1-0 lead with no outs. A fielder's choice from Jenny Nelson pushed WSU out to a 2-0 lead before the Peacocks earned the first out of the inning with a fly-out. UIU earned out number two with the next at-bat as Mary Turitto laid down a sac-bunt with a slow-roller to first base, but the sacrifice gave WSU at 3-0 lead.
 
The Peacocks got out of the inning, but couldn't respond on offense as the Warriors earned quick 1-2-3 inning forcing a pop-up and two groundouts. UIU went back on defense, but this time, they held. WSU claimed two base-runners, but both were stranded as Redmond got out of a jam in the bottom of the second.
 
The same did not hold true for the bottom of the third as the Warriors tacked on another run thanks to an RBI-single from Allyson O'Herron.
 
Now trailing 4-0, the Peacocks could have rolled over, but this was the playoffs. Do-or-die and Upper Iowa showed its fight. Jacqueline Flood began the comeback in the top of the fourth as she ripped a solo homer over the centerfield wall for her fifth jack of the season. The solo shot brought the designated visitors within three runs, 4-1.
 
The comeback continued in the fifth inning and despite two outs, the Peacocks cut the Warriors' lead in half with an RBI-single from senior second-baseman Adrienna Olson. After Katie Sammons and Shelby Crist each earned base rips, the St. Olaf native brought Sammons home with a ground-ball right up the middle. 
 
Now down just two runs, UIU was within striking distance, and Lauren Marlinghaus knew it. The sophomore third-baseman tied the game in the top of the sixth inning thanks to a two-run blast as she drove a pitch over the right-field wall. The homer was her sixth of the season, which is twice as many as she had as a freshman.
 
Despite tying the game, 4-4, and holding the momentum, the Peacocks couldn't keep the Warriors at bay in the bottom of the sixth inning. Three mistakes came back to bite UIU as the Warriors scored the go-ahead run on an RBI-single to right, then two more runners crossed the plate on back-to-back errors.
 
Upper Iowa managed one final hit in the top of the seventh, but couldn't manage to tie the game. The Warriors clinched the win, 7-4, to advance to the next round, while the Peacocks head back to Fayette to prepare for the offseason.
 
With the season in the books, single season stat leaders can now be added to the record books. Four Peacocks earned a spot in the top-20 for at-bats, Riley Kruel and Adrienna Olson made the top-12 for hits in a single year with 51 and 49, respectively. Jacqueline Flood and Lauren Marlinghaus both finished with 10 doubles, which is good for a fourteenth-place tie.
 
Led by Erica Kirgan's 11 homers, three Peacocks ranked in the top-7 including Marlinghaus (6) and Flood (5). Kirgan came up one homer shy of tying the single season record, which is held by Priscilla Rubalcava when she hit 12 home runs in 2004.
 
Kruel made the record books with 29 runs scored, while Kirgan and Flood were in the top-15 in RBIs. Flood also made the top-10 with a .606 slugging percentage.
 
As far as pitching went, Brooke Redmond had a solid sophomore campaign as she tied the record for most wins in a single season with 15, ranked second with 34 appearances, fifth with 25 starts, and fifth with 119 strikeouts. She also held the sixth spot all-time with 159 innings pitched this year. Flood wasn't far behind with 151 innings pitched, which ranks 11th in the record books.
 
To see the complete list, click here.