The Upper Iowa softball team has now rattled off five straight wins with a sweep of the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears at the Eischeid Softball Complex on Tuesday afternoon. UIU picked up the win in game one, 6-2, and kept the bats going for game two with a 6-1 win. The Peacocks are now 13-0 when scoring six or more runs in a game and 21-0 when holding opponents to two runs or less.
 
The Peacocks (28-12, 14-4 NSIC) have now won 23 of their last 28 games dating back to early March. The Golden Bears fell to 12-26 overall and 6-12 in conference play with the losses.
 
Sophomore center fielder Sammy Garrett led the Peacocks at the plate as she went 3-for-5 with two doubles and a home run, scored three times and added three RBI. Senior Jacqueline Flood was 2-for-6, scored twice and had three RBI. Flood also hit her 28th career long ball, giving her a one home run lead over fellow senior Erica Kirgan in the race for the UIU home run record.
 
The Peacocks continue their homestand this weekend when they take on Northern State on Saturday, Apr. 16, and MSU Moorhead on Sunday, Apr. 17. The Saturday doubleheader begins at 1 p.m., while Sunday's twin billing will start at noon with senior day festivities taking place between the games.
 
Game 1: Upper Iowa 6, Concordia-St. Paul 2
 
The Peacocks started game one just like they have started many games this season, with hot bats. UIU scored three runs in the first inning on three hits. Junior Riley Kruel led off for Upper Iowa with a single to extend her current hitting streak to 11 games, a team-high this season. After an error allowed freshman Sami Kay Shafranski to reach, Flood singled to score Kruel and put the Peacocks up 1-0. Two batters later, junior Tara Walls hit a sacrifice fly to foul territory in right and Shafranski scored easily from third for the second UIU run. Senior Tara Duran came up next and ripped a single through the left side that scored Flood and UIU led 3-0.
 
The bats kept going in the top of the second as junior Katie Sammons hit her seventh home run of the season to lead off the inning. Garrett followed up a double on a shallow blooper that fell in no-man's land in right center. After a Kruel sac bunt moved Garrett to third, Shafranski singled up the middle that brought Garrett home to make it 5-0, UIU.
 
The Golden Bears came back with a few runs in the top of the fourth. CSP started the inning with a single and double to put runners on second and third with nobody out. The next hitter ripped a liner right up the middle, but Flood snagged it for the first out. Flood struck out the next hitter, but a wild pitch allowed her to reach base and a run to score. After a walk loaded the bases, a hit-by-pitch brought the second run of the inning in and cut the Peacock lead to three, 5-2, with the bases still loaded. But Flood was able to get the next hitter to ground out and end the threat.
 
It appeared CSP was ready to add to their lead in the top of the fifth when, with a runner on, a fly ball was dropped in the outfield by Garrett. The Ottumwa, Iowa native recovered quickly, threw a strike home from center field and nabbed the runner at the plate to end the inning.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, UIU added an insurance run when Garrett doubled off the top of the wall in left, then scored when Kruel singled to center.
 
Flood (13-7) threw all seven innings for UIU in the win, gave up just two runs on four hits, struck out six and walked one.
 
Game 2: Upper Iowa 6, Concordia-St. Paul 1
 
The Peacocks had at least two hitters reach base in all six innings of batting in game two thanks in part to six walks issued by Golden Bear pitching.
 
UIU had runners on first and second with one out in the first inning, but a pop up and a ground out ended the early threat.
 
In the second, Upper Iowa loaded the bases with no outs as Duran started the inning by getting plunked by a pitch, freshman Erin Drahozal singled on a bunt and Sammons walked. That brought Garrett to the plate and she hit a nubber right back to the pitcher, who tried to get Duran at home but the catcher dropped the ball to allow the first Peacock run of the game. That would be the only run of the inning, however, as a shallow fly out wasn't deep enough to try to score, a fielder's choice at home kept UIU off the board and a ground out to second ended the inning.
 
Concordia-St. Paul tied the game in the third inning on a squeeze play. With runners on the corners and one out, the Golden Bears executed a perfect bunt that allowed the runner to score from third and tied it at 1-1.
 
Upper Iowa took the lead back quickly in the fourth as Garrett hit a laser of a home run over the wall in center, her third long ball of the season. A couple batters later, Shafranski drew a walk and brought Flood to the plate, who promptly deposited her eighth home run of the year over the fence in right field and gave the Peacocks a 4-1 lead.
 
The Peacocks added runs in the fifth and sixth to go ahead 6-1. The first came when UIU utilized a squeeze bunt of their own as Garrett laid down a perfectly placed bunt and Duran came home. To lead off the sixth, Shafranski ripped a line drive just out of the first baseman's reach and past the right fielder that got all the way to the wall with Shafranski eventually sliding into third for a triple. Two batters later senior Erica Kirgan picked up her second hit of game two with an RBI single down the left field line to score Shafranski.
 
Senior Brooke Redmond (14-3) had her "A" stuff going as the lefty struck out eight batters over seven innings, allowed just three hits and one run. The Basehor, Kansas native is now just one win away from tying the UIU single-season record for wins in a season, a record that Redmond set in 2014.