The Peacocks picked up a split on the final day of the Apple Market Classic, beating the Lions of Missouri Southern State 3-1 before falling to Pittsburg State, 14-3, in the afternoon. UIU wrapped up the tournament at 2-4 and is now 5-16 this season.
Against the Lions, the Peacocks continued to struggle with surrendering early runs. UIU surrendered singles to four of the first five MSSU hitters, but escaped the top of the first allowing just one run. Upper Iowa responded with a run of their own as
Jacqueline Flood brought home
Whitney Williams on a fielder's choice.
The game remained tied until the Peacocks came up in the bottom of the sixth. Flood started the UIU rally with a one-out single and moved to second on a wild pitch.
Erica Kirgan than singled to left, allowing Flood to move up to third.
Mara Jones came on as a pinch hitter and hit an infield single that allowed Flood to score and moved
Katie Sammons, who came on as a pinch runner for Kirgan, all the way to third base.
Taylor Bjork came up next and hit a sacrifice fly to push UIU's lead to two, 3-1.
Brooke Redmond threw six strong innings for Upper Iowa, giving up one run on six hits while striking out six. Redmond held Missouri Southern hitless over the final four innings to secure her third win of the season.
In game two, UIU once again surrendered a run in the first to fall behind 1-0 earlier. Kirgan erased that deficit with a three-run home run in the bottom of the first. That, however, would be the lone bright spot in the game for the Peacocks, as they gave up four runs in the top of the second to give the lead back to the Gorillas.
Both teams put up zeros in the third and fourth, but Pitt State added three more in the fifth and six in the sixth to pull away and win 14-3. Kirgan was 3-3 with three RBIs to lead UIU, while Flood had a pair of hits in three at-bats. Flood also took the loss in the game, allowing 12 earned runs on 11 hits in five innings.
The Peacocks open conference play next with a doubleheader at Winona State on Thursday, Mar. 26, with the first game starting at 2 p.m.
