Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The Peacock softball team dropped both games on Friday at the WSU Dome Tournament in Rochester, Minn. UIU fell in the first game to the Pittsburg State Gorillas, 4-3, with PSU winning on a walk-off double. Upper Iowa then lost game two in the afternoon to the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats, 6-4. NMSU plated all six of the runs via the long ball.

Upper Iowa is back in the RCTC Dome in Rochester, Minn. on Saturday for two games, starting with a matchup with Washburn University at 11 a.m. and a 5 p.m. meeting with Northwest Missouri State. Live stats can be found at http://www.sidearmstats.com/winona/softball/

Pittsburg State 4, Upper Iowa 3
Upper Iowa softball lost in walk-off fashion, 4-3, to the Pittsburg State Gorillas in its opening game at the WSU Dome Tournament on Saturday. The Peacocks trailed 3-0 early but rallied for three runs in the fifth before the Gorillas scored the game winning run in the bottom of the seventh.
 
PSU got on the board in the bottom of the first when catcher Nicole Nease hit a two-run shot to deep left field.
 
Upper Iowa was no-hit through the first three innings, but junior Riley Kruel stroked a single through the left side in the top of the fourth, but was stranded at second. In the bottom half of the inning, Pitt State added a run with a solo home run that gave PSU a 3-0 lead.
 
The Peacocks rallied for 3 runs in the top of the fifth. Junior Tara Walls got things started with a one out single, followed by a freshman Erin Drahozal walk. With two outs, Kruel picked up her second single of the game and plated Walls for the first Peacock run. Freshman Jenny Budds then laced a single to left center to score a pair and tie the game.
 
After a scoreless sixth and top of the seventh, Pitt State started the bottom half of the seventh with a leadoff double.  Two batters later, Gorilla second baseman Kristen VanHoosen hit a blooper that landed right on the right field line and scored the run from second for the walk-off 4-3 win.
 
Kruel led the Peacocks with two hits, while Budds paced UIU with two RBI. Senior Jacqueline Flood (1-2) took the loss, tossing 6.1 innings, allowing four runs, all earned, on eight hits. Flood struck out eight and walked none.

Northwest Missouri State 6, Upper Iowa 4
The Peacocks dropped their second game of the day and second game of the season to the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats, 6-4. Upper Iowa surrendered four runs in the top of the fifth, then rallied for three runs in the last two innings, but came up just short. In defeat, senior Brooke Redmond suffered her first loss of the season.
 
The Bearcats put up a two spot in the first inning with a two-run home run to straight away center field. The Peacocks responded with a run of their own as Kruel started the game with a triple to left field and Budds picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice.
 
After three scoreless innings, Northwest Missouri State hit its second home run of the game, this time a grand slam, putting the Bearcats up 6-1.
 
The UIU offense came alive in the bottom of the sixth as the Peacocks had five hits in the inning, all singles, including a two-run single by senior Lauren Marlinghaus. Senior Erica Kirgan then roped a double to left center in the bottom of the seventh to score Budds, but the Upper Iowa would come up two runs short and lost 6-4.
 
Three Peacocks had two hits in the game, Kruel, Kirgan and Walls, marking the second straight multi-hit game for Kruel.  Redmond (2-1) took the loss after allowing six runs, five earned, on seven hits in 4.1 innings.