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VS MINNESOTA STATE: LIVE STATS

THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK SOFTBALL

The Peacocks wrapped up their regular season last weekend with a sweep of Southwest Minnesota State on Senior Day. UIU earned a six-seed in the NSIC/US Bank Softball Tournament which will be played April 30-May 2. The Peacocks take on the three-seeded Minnesota State Mavericks at 12 p.m. at Sherman Park in Sioux Falls, S.D. in the first round games. If Upper Iowa wins its first game, the Peacock won't play again until Friday. Should UIU drop the first game, it will play again on Thursday afternoon against the loser of Sioux Falls and St. Cloud State.
 

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KEY NOTES TO CONSIDER

1       FLOOD'S ON FIRST:  Junior Jacqueline Flood, 2013 Northern Sun Freshman of the Year, is in the midst of one of the greatest hitting seasons in Upper Iowa softball history and has been honored with a spot on the All-NSIC First Team. The Mount Vernon, Ill. native was selected to the first team as a pitcher/utility player and has set new single-season team records in hits (67), runs scored (43) and RBIs (51). Her current batting average (.429) and home run total (10) rank third in single season history, while her season slugging percentage (.718) and on-base percentage (.494) are fifth best. On the pitching side, Flood's 13 wins and 163.1 innings pitched also rank fifth in school single-season history.
 
2       GLOWING GOLD:  Senior catcher Shelby Crist became the first Peacock to win an NSIC Gold Glove award in the four years since the conference began naming the team. Crist was among the Northern Sun's best backstops, throwing out 13 of 43 base runners on stolen base attempts, ranking second in the conference at a 30 percent throw-out rate. The Upper Iowa catcher was also one of the conference's best at blocking pitches, allowing just six passed balls while catching all 30 conference games for UIU. At the plate, Crist had her best year as a Peacock, hitting .320 overall and .333 in conference play. She racked up 40 hits, scored 26 runs and stole nine bases.

3      SCHOOL RECORD: UIU won three of four last weeked, finishing the season on a high note by picking up a pair of wins over Southwest Minnesota State. The sweep gave Upper Iowa 18 conference wins, which is the most the school has won since joining the Northern Sun Conference prior to the 2007 season. The 2013 UIU softball team finished with a 15-7 record, narrowly beating this year's squad in winning percentage, .682 to .600.
 

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ABOUT THE OPPONENT

MINNESOTA STATE: The Mavericks are 35-21 this season and finished as the three seed in NSIC standings at 20-10. Minnesota State posted a 3-3 record last week to finish out their regular season schedule. MSU swept past Southwest Minnesota State on the road during the middle of the week with the scores being 3-0 and 6-1. On the weekend, the Mavericks got swept by #11 Augustana at home, before splitting with Wayne State on Sunday at the MSU Softball Diamond. Freshman Jordan Mauch led all batters last week with a .500 (7-14) batting average, including two doubles, while redshirt freshman Alyssa Rickels batted .375 (6-16) from the plate. Sophomore pitcher Coley Ries led the pitching staff with a 0.58 ERA in 24 innings of work. She earned a 2-1 record in three games started and collected three complete games. Ries struck out 29 batters and held opposing batters to a .165 batting average.