The Peacock softball team picked up a Saturday sweep at the Lewis Flyer Dome Invitational, defeating Illinois Springfield 6-4 and Missouri S&T 8-0.
Senior
Brooke Redmond earned the win in game one, while senior
Jacqueline Flood picked up the victory in game two. Junior
Katie Sammons led UIU with five hits and three RBI on the day, while Flood and senior
Tara Duran each picked up four hits.
The Peacocks next games will come over spring break at the NTC Spring Games in Clermont, Fla. UIU opens the 10-game, six-day trip with a set of matchups against Kutztown and Quincy on Sunday, Mar. 6.
Upper Iowa 6, Illinois Springfield 4 The Peacocks snapped a six-game slide with a 6-4 win over Illinois Springfield. UIU is now 2-0 against the Prarie Stars this year as Upper Iowa defeated UIS 3-1 in the final game of the Arkansas-Monticello 8-State Classic.
Upper Iowa opened the game with two runs in the first inning to go up 2-0. Freshman
Jenny Budds singled to center and then scored two batters later on senior
Erica Kirgan's single to right. Junior
Tara Walls followed with a triple to score Kirgan.
The Prarie Stars responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the first to tie the game, then added a run in the second to take a 3-2 lead.
UIU retook the lead in the fourth inning with four runs on five straight hits. With one out, Upper Iowa loaded the bases with three straight singles from Sammons, sophomore
Sammy Garrett and junior
Riley Kruel. Budds then doubled to right, scoring Sammons and Garrett to take a 4-3 lead. Flood followed with a sac bunt, which scored Kruel from third and moved Budds to third, who then came around to score on another Kirgan RBI single to put Upper Iowa up 6-3.
Illinois Springfield started the bottom of the fifth with a single and an RBI double, but Redmond stranded the Prarie Star runner at third to keep the Peacocks ahead, 6-4.
Redmond (3-2) came on in relief in the second inning and allowed just one run on five hits in 5.2 innings.
Upper Iowa 8, Missouri S&T 0 In game two of the day, the Peacocks had one of their best offensive outputs in an 8-0 win over the Missouri S&T Miners. UIU had a season-high 15 hits and the eight runs was the second most for the team this year.
Flood opened the scoring for Upper Iowa with a solo home run in the third inning to give UIU a 1-0 lead.
In the fourth, the Peacocks scored three runs on four hits to go up 4-0. Walls and Duran opened the inning with a couple singles, then moved to second and third on a sac bunt by senior
Lauren Marlinghaus. Sammons doubled down the right field line, scoring Walls, followed by a Garrett single which allowed Duran to score. Kruel reached on a fielder's choice and Garrett came around to score the final run of the inning.
UIU added two more runs in the fifth on five hits, making it 6-0. Marlinhaus picked up an RBI on a single to score Kirgan, then Sammons picked up an RBI on her second double of the game.
The Peacocks finished their day with two more runs in the seventh on a Duran RBI ground-rule double and a Sammons single to score Duran.
Flood (2-4) threw the complete game shutout, striking out four and allowed just five hits.
