Upper Iowa completed a two-game sweep of the Beavers of Minot State University on Saturday to claim a 3-1 series win at Robertson Woods Field in Fayette. The Peacocks edged their guests in game one, 6-5, and then held on for a 9-5 win in game two. The wins improved UIU's record to 7-8 overall and 3-1 in the Northern Sun, while MiSU dropped to 4-13 overall and 1-3 in the conference.
Celestino Rodriguez gave the Beavers a 3-0 lead early in game one thanks to a three-run homer in the top of the first, but Upper Iowa answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning to take a one-run lead. Back-to-back singles by
Cody Booker and
Mitch Moser got UIU started and with one out a sacrifice fly from
Alex George gave the home team their first run.
Jacob Greco picked up an rbi-single and later scored on a fielding error in the outfield. The fourth and final run of the inning came when
Emmett Kulick singled to right.
Minot State tied the game in the third with a Jordan Schulz rbi-single, but Upper Iowa quickly retook their one-run lead on a ground out by George that plated Moser. The Beavers got a leadoff homerun from Jared Adams in the fourth inning to knot the score at 5-5.
The game remained tied until the bottom of the sixth inning when a three-base, double-error play allowed George to hustle to third base on a grounder to third. The ball ricocheted into the outfield and was misplayed allowing UIU's right fielder to continue racing around the bases into a headfirst slide into third. Greco singled down the leftfield line to push George home with the eventual winning run.
Brandon Nicholson closed out his third inning of relief on the mound in the seventh to earn his first win of the season. Nicholson improved to 1-1 on the year after allowing no runs on three hits to get his nine outs.
Collin Thomas took a no-decision after throwing four innings and allowing five runs, three were earned, on six hits.
Kendal Daniels (0-1) took the loss going the distance while allowing six runs, five earned, on seven hits while striking out seven Peacocks.
Moser and Greco each had two hits, while George and Greco had two rbi apiece.
In the second game, Upper Iowa got their first two runs on a homerun to left by
Eric Cottrell with two outs in the third inning. The Peacocks broke the game open in the fourth inning with four runs before recording an out. Jacob Stenberg plated Greco with a single and Luis Ravelo followed with his first homerun of the season to score three more runs for the Peacocks.
Minot State got one run back in the fifth inning when Schulz delivered a rbi-double for the Beavers.
Upper Iowa didn't let the momentum turn though; patience at the plate helped the Peacocks load the bases with three straight walks and scored two runs on a pair of ground outs by
Jordan Kearns and Luis Ravelo.
The Beavers got one more run in the sixth to close the gap to 8-2, but UIU pushed their lead back to seven runs, 9-2, thanks to a run-scoring single by Stenberg.
Minot State finally got to Moser, UIU's starter, in the eighth inning scoring two runs on two hits, but Zach Cain closed out the eighth and got through a tough spot in the ninth inning. Cain found himself in a bases loaded, no outs situation in the ninth. The Beavers hit into a double play while plating one run and then Cain took it upon himself to end the game. The freshman righty got a called strike three to end the threat and the game giving UIU the 9-5 victory.
Moser improved to 3-0 with 7.1 innings of work; he allowed 4 runs on 10 hits while striking out 7 batters. Cain threw 1.2 innings and allowed a run on 3 hits.
Cottrell and Stenberg each had two hits, while Ravelo notched four rbi in the game.
Upper Iowa will remain at home this coming weekend with four games scheduled for Robertson Woods Field in Fayette. The Peacocks will take on the Wolves of Northern State University in a four-game, Northern Sun Conference series on Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 2-3.
