Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The Upper Iowa softball team was swept in Sioux Falls on Tuesday afternoon by the #18 Augustana Vikings. The Peacocks dropped the first game 8-0 in five innings, but battled back in the second game before falling 6-4. UIU fell to 8-19 on the season with the losses, while Augustana improved to 27-5.
 
Game one got away from the Peacocks quickly as the Vikings scored six runs in the bottom of the first inning. Taylor Bjork pitched well in relief for UIU, tossing four and two-thirds innings, giving up three hits and two runs. It was Augustana's Jenelle Trautmann, NSIC Preseason Hitter of the Year, who stole the show in game one. Trautmann hit a three-run home run in the first inning, her nation-leading 15th of the year, as well as pitch a complete game, allowing just two hits and striking out 10. She improved to 15-1 on year with the victory.
 
In the second game, UIU didn't go so quietly. Although the Vikings jumped out to an early lead with a run in the first and two more in the second, Upper Iowa was undeterred.
 
After the Vikings added another run in the fourth to make it 4-0, the Peacocks would finally get on the board in the top of the fifth. With two outs, Katie Mnichowicz singled to right and Jacqueline Flood followed that up with a triple to center to score Mnichowicz.
 
But Augustana would add two more runs in the bottom of the sixth that would prove to be the difference in the game. The Peacocks again rallied with the top of the seventh with a two-out three-run home run from Erica Kirgan, but they couldn't muster anymore runs and lost by two, 6-4.
 
Flood (4-7) took the loss for the Peacocks in game two, throwing six innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on ten hits. She struck out three and walked two. The Peacock pitcher was also the team's best hitter on the day, going three for six at the plate with a run scored and an RBI. Kirgan and Whitney Williams added two hits each, but were the only other Peacocks with multiple hits on the day.
 
Upper Iowa will host St. Cloud State on Friday at the Eischeid Softball Complex for the Peacocks Home Opener. The first game in the twin billing with be at 1 p.m. UIU will then host Minnesota Duluth on Saturday for a doubleheader with game one starting at noon.