The Peacock softball team earned a Sunday sweep on the final day of the 2017 HyVee Classic hosted by Missouri Western State University. Upper Iowa picked up a pair of wins over Missouri Southern State and Washburn on Sunday afternoon behind stellar pitching and one of the best offensive days of the season. Upper Iowa totaled 15 runs and 22 hits on the afternoon, and were led by youngsters in the process. Freshman
Emily Kisch was dominant in the circle in game one, with her best effort of the season, earning the complete-game shutout.
Erin Drahozal was solid in game two and got run support in the process. With the two wins, UIU improves to 7-13 on the season.
Upper Iowa will have just one day off before hosting three games against the Rangers of Wisconsin-Parkside on Tuesday and Wednesday, Mar. 21-22 at the Eischeid Softball Complex in Fayette. UIU will play a single game on Tuesday at 3 p.m. against UWP, while Wednesday's doubleheader gets underway at 12 p.m.
Game One
The Peacock offense got started right away on Sunday.
Julia Buffington sent an rbi-single into left field, and after a throwing error by the Missouri Southern State left fielder,
Tara Walls came around to score as well to give Upper Iowa an early 2-0 lead. UIU would add to that in the first inning, with help from freshman
Ali Green. Green reached on an error, and then on a steal attempt, got caught in between first and second base. In the process of getting picked off, Buffington was able to score from third base to push the lead to 3-0. That early advantage gave Kisch the cushion she needed in the circle.
Kisch tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing just six hits in the process en route to her fourth win of the season (4-7). The freshman continued to get run support in the third inning when Green laced an rbi-single into right field to score
Sammy Garrett. The Peacocks commanded a 4-0 advantage and would not look back the rest of the game.
UIU added two more runs in the seventh inning behind rbi-singles from Garrett and Buffington to push the lead to 6-0. Kisch finished the game in the seventh to earn her first shutout of her career, striking out four batters and walking two, while facing 30 batters for the game. Upper Iowa totaled 10 hits on the day, led by
Sami Kay Shafranski, Garrett, and Buffington, who each totaled two.
Buffington led UIU with two runs batted in, while Garrett led the teams with two runs scored.
Game Two
Drahozal got the start in game two for Upper Iowa, and delivered with a solid outing in the circle. The right-hander tossed five innings of three-run ball, allowing seven hits in the process. She received run support as well, as the Peacock lineup continued to stay hot even after the five-hour wait between games. Kisch came in for two innings of relief to close out the game, and UIU went on to defeat Washburn 9-3.
After a scoreless first two frames, Upper Iowa opened it up in the third.
Jordyn Brennan and
Jenny Budds led off the inning with back-to-back bunts for hits, and
Riley Kruel followed with a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over. Two batters later, Garrett crushed a home run to give the Peacocks a 3-0 advantage to give Drahozal a cushion. However, Washburn would answer back in the bottom of the frame.
The home team on the scoreboard, the Ichabods, responded with a two-run third of their own to get back in the game, 3-2. A two-run double put a pair of runs on the board, but the Peacock bats were not done either. In the fourth inning, UIU opened up a five-run lead after plating four in the frame. Buffington led off the inning with a double, and two batters later,
Shannon Nix roped an rbi-double to score a run. Brennan doubled herself on the next pitch, tallying the third two-bagger of the inning, and giving the Peacocks a 5-2 lead. Kruel doubled herself two batters later and totaled the fourth double of the inning for Upper Iowa, a season best. After a Shafranski single and a Washburn error, another run came in to score for the fourth run of the inning and an 8-2 lead.
Drahozal would shut down Washburn in the fourth, and UIU would add yet another run in the fifth inning with a solo home run from Green. Upper Iowa totaled 8 extra base-hits in the game, and would not look back on their biggest offensive day of the season.
Washburn would tack on a run in the fifth, but Upper Iowa responded with one in the seventh to command the 9-3 lead. Kisch closed the door in the bottom of the seventh and the Peacocks picked up the Sunday sweep.
Garrett, Buffington, Green and Brennan each tallied two hits in game two, while Garrett led the team with three runs batted in on the home run. Garrett and Brennan each scored twice to lead UIU as well.
