The Peacock baseball team opened up the Northern Sun schedule against the defending regular season conference champions Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon, and big innings helped power UMD to a doubleheader sweep of Upper Iowa. In a close game one, the visitors pulled away with a 5-run sixth inning and a 6-run seventh innings to win 15-7. A five-run fifth inning in game two propelled the Bulldogs to a game two victory, 9-2, as well. With the two losses, Upper Iowa falls to 4-6 on the season, and begins NSIC play 0-2. Minnesota Duluth improves to 5-7 overall and 2-0 in league play.

Upper Iowa returns to the diamond to face the Bulldogs once again for games three and four of the series on Monday, Mar. 20. First pitch of game one is at 12 p.m. Coverage of the games can be found here.

Game One
Luis D. Ravelo-Herrera got things started for Upper Iowa in game one, ripping a leadoff solo home run to put UIU up 1-0 right away against Bulldog starter Marcus Frederickson. However, UIU squandered a chance to build their lead, as they left the bases loaded in the first to keep the lead at one. Frederickson was pulled off the mound for relief pitching after the first, and UIU would struggle to put anything together against the visiting bullpen.

Peacock starter Zachary Cain was solid through the first four innings, allowing just two runs, but only one earned. Colin Baumgard doubled into left field in the second inning to tie the game at one, but Cain settled down nicely and was in control through four. Alex George gave his pitcher some run support with a two-out, two-rbi single into right field to give Upper Iowa a 3-1 lead after two innings. Tyler Wojciechowski would reach on a error that scored a run in the third inning to cut the lead to 3-2, but UIU still held the lead after the first four innings.

The fifth inning was the turning point in the game. Cain walked the first two batters in the frame, and they would come around to hurt the Peacocks after back-to-back singles to give UMD a 4-3 lead. Cain would exit after five innings, trailing by one, and would need some help from his bullpen. The Bulldog offense, however, had other ideas, and erupted in the game's final two innings.

Minnesota Duluth sent 22 batters to the plate in the sixth and seventh innings combined, and scored 11 runs in the process to open up a 15-3 lead. 11 hits contributed to the success, and in the seventh inning UMD sent nine batters to the plate before Upper Iowa recorded an out. The offensive explosion gave UMD a 12-run lead heading the bottom of the seventh. UIU would plate four runs in their final at-bat, but it was not enough as the visitors picked up the 15-7 win.

George led UIU at the plate, going 2-3 for the game with 2 runs batted in. Anthony Calton tallied a pair of hits as well, but the Peacock offense tallied nine hits in the game and left eight on base.

Jalen Busker earned the win for UMD, tossing 3.0 innings in relief, while Cain (1-1) takes the loss for Upper Iowa, tossing 5.0 innings of 5-hit, 4-run ball, with 3 of those earned. Cain struck out four batters on the afternoon and walked three.

Game Two
Once again, the Peacock offense got off to a good start in game two, but were unable to sustain the early success. Ravelo doubled into right field against a strong 20-mile per hour wind, and Mitch Moser followed it up with a near home run to left center. Bulldog center fielder Brett Milazzo made a diving catch at the base of the wall, and Ravelo wisely tagged up at second base, kept running around third, and scored on the sacrifice fly to give UIU a 1-0 lead. Bulldog starter Rece Dietrich would settle in nicely, however, and shut down the UIU offense after the first inning.

Baumgard answered with a sacrifice fly for the Bulldogs to tie the game in the top of the second inning, and both starting pitchers would exchange great runs over the next few innings. Peacock starter Tyus Adkins was strong through four innings for the Peacocks, but things changed in the fifth. Another big Bulldog inning would prove to be the turning point of the game.

A six-run fifth inning began with a rbi-double by Collin Thomas, and was followed by a Wojciechowski two-run single to push the lead out to 4-1. Bulldog catcher Marco Lucarelli roped a two-rbi double to left field, and would score two batters later off a single to complete the six-run inning. UIU's Mitch Silberstein replaced Adkins to close out the inning, and would work the next few innings in relief.

In the eighth inning, UMD hit a pair of solo home runs to push the lead to 9-1, and after a run pushed across by UIU in the bottom of the ninth, the Bulldogs earned the doubleheader sweep.

UIU mustered a total of six hits in game two, with Ravelo tallying two of the six in the game. Ravelo scored both Peacock runs, and capped off his day with stellar defense at short stop as well.

Adkins takes the loss (0-2), after going 4.2 innings allowing 7 earned on 7 hits while striking out 3 and walking 2.