The Upper Iowa baseball team lost a pair of NSIC games to the University of Minnesota Duluth on Thursday on the road, but the decisions came in very different ways.  In game one, the Bulldogs rallied from a late 1-0 deficit to win 4-2 in a game that featured a total of 11 hits.  The home team then erupted in game two for a 21-1 win in a run-shortened contest.  After the decisions, the Peacocks are now 17-23 overall and 9-17 in the conference, while the Bulldogs improved to 25-11 overall and 19-7 including nine straight wins in the NSIC.

The Peacocks scored a run in the third inning, but couldn't take advantage of a great opportunity for more.  Jordan Kearns led off the inning with a hit batsmen and Luis Ravelo followed with a walk.  When Mitch Moser singled into the whole on the left side, UIU had the bases loaded with no outs.  Jacob Greco grounded out to third for the first out, but Kearns came home for the game's first run.  Alex George earned a walk to load the bases again, but with one out this time.  Unfortunately, the inning ended without any more movement as a strikeout and a flyout ended the Peacock threat.

UIU put runners on again in the fourth with one when Colton Janssen walked and Kearns singled through the left side, but once again UMD starter Bo Hellquist got out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Bulldogs finally got to Peacock starter Mitch Moser, who had cruised through the first four innings allowing just three hits.  UMD loaded the bases with no outs thanks to a hit batsmen, a walk and a well-placed bunt single.  The home team tied the game with a sac fly to centerfield and then took the lead as a throw to third on a stolen base attempt went down the line in left.  After the error, the Bulldogs had two runs in and a runner on third with one out.  Moser got a strikeout for the second out, but a single allowed the third run of the inning to cross the plate.

UIU once again got two runners on from the bottom of their lineup as Janssen singled with two outs and Kearns extended the inning reaching on an error to set up first and third for the top of the lineup, but a strikeout ended the threat.

After the Bulldogs added an insurance run in the sixth, Upper Iowa cut the gap back to two, 4-2, on a solo homerun by Greco to left centerfield, but the Peacocks could get no closer.

Moser took the loss falling to 1-2 on the year after five innings on the mound allowing three runs, two earned, on just five hits while striking out six.

The home team took control of game two early and never let go running away with a 21-1 victory in a game shortened to seven innings due to the NSIC's run rule.

With four runs in the first, six runs in the second and five in the third, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 15-1 lead after just three innings.  Upper Iowa got their run in the third inning when Janssen led the inning off with a homerun.

After a scoreless fourth inning, UMD tacked on two runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth to set the final margin at twenty.

UIU's starter Shimpei Sato allowed four runs on a hit and three walks including a pair of wild pitches to suffer the loss in just one-third of an inning to fall to 2-2 on the year.

The Peacocks will head to Wayne, Neb. this weekend for a four-game series with the Wildcats of Wayne State College on Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 25-26.