THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK SOFTBALL

Upper Iowa (35-15, 21-7 NSIC) finished a record-breaking season tied for second in the Northern Sun Conference and will be the No. 3 seed in the 2016 Northern Sun Conference Tournament that will take place this week at Sherman Park in Sioux Falls, S.D. UIU will face the No. 6 seeded Winona State Warriors in the first round of the double-elimination tournament at noon on Thursday, Apr. 28. If the Peacocks beat the Warriors, they would play at noon on Friday. If UIU were to lose its opening game of the tournament, the Peacocks would play again on Thursday at 4 p.m. against the loser of Bemidji State and Northern State.
 
KEY NOTES TO CONSIDER
 
1    RECORD BREAKING SEASON: The Peacocks set the school record for wins in a season on Apr. 16 with a game one win over Northern State, then went on to continue to re-set the record with each win until they reached win number 35 against Sioux Falls on Apr. 24. UIU set a new school mark for conference wins in a season with a walk-off victory against Wayne State on Apr. 21 before finishing the year with 21 NSIC wins.
 
2    LEAVING THEIR LEGACY: The 2016 Upper Iowa senior class will leave the university as the winningest class in school history, totaling 107 wins over the last four years. They are the first class to go to four straight NSIC tournaments and were a part of the two winningest seasons in school history (2013 & 2016).
 
3    SLAMMIN' SAMMONS: Junior Katie Sammons' current five-game hitting streak has seen her average go up 31 points (.289 to .320) as she has picked up eight hits in her last 14 at-bats, including two doubles and a home run. The right fielder has added three runs scored and three RBI over that stretch.
 
4     SCORING EARLY: UIU has jumped out to early leads in many games this season and have outscored opponents 47-10 in the first inning, leading to a 31-7 mark when the Peacocks score first. Upper Iowa has extended their leads in the second inning, where they outscored opponents 24-10.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
 
WINONA STATE: Picked as the preseason Northern Sun Conference favorites, the Warriors earned the No. 6 seed in the NSIC tournament after a 17-10 record in conference play and finished the season 35-15 overall. WSU is led by two-time NSIC Pitcher of the Week Hannah Lythberg, who finished the season 17-9 with a 1.43 ERA, including two no-hitters. The Warriors have four hitters that finished the season hitting above .300 in Reed Karsten (.378), Natalie Kalmes (.355), Paige Keegan (.325) and Jamee Schleis (.316). Karsten had a team-high 65 hits, 9 home runs, 13 doubles, 38 RBI and 44 runs scored.