The Peacock baseball team split their doubleheader on Monday in Fayette against the University of Minnesota Duluth to wrap up the four-game series. Upper Iowa picked up a 2-0 win behind a complete-game shutout from
Brett Fanning, while the Bulldogs topped UIU 10-4 in game two after scoring at least once in six of the nine innings played. With the split, Upper Iowa is now 5-7 overall and 1-3 to start the Northern Sun season. UMD is 6-8 overall and 3-1 in league play.
Upper Iowa will continue their home stand next weekend as they welcome in the Wolves of Northern State University for a four-game series on Saturday and Sunday, Mar. 25-26 at Robertson Woods Field. Both doubleheaders will begin at 12 p.m.
Game One
Fanning put together his best outing of the young season on Monday in game one, pitching a complete-game shutout, allowing seven hits while striking out two and not walking a batter. The redshirt junior right-hander got just enough run support to earn the 2-0 win. The Spring Valley, Ill. product improves to 2-0 on the year.
Bulldog starter Nick Dorfman was solid on the mound as well, but UIU did just enough with the bats to put together a win. Dorfman scattered seven hits himself while striking out four and not allowing a walk. Dorfman finished six strong innings in the pitcher's dual, and both pitchers faced 25 batters on the day. The game was scoreless through four and a half innings, but Upper Iowa finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth.
Riley Braughton opened the fifth with a leadoff single in to left field, and
Dominic Hillesheim followed with a sacrifice punt to the pitcher to get Braughton in scoring position.
Anthony Calton flew out to left field, but great base running from Braughton put him at third base with two outs in the inning.
Luis D. Ravelo-Herrera stepped up and ripped an rbi-single to left to give the home team a 1-0 lead.
The Peacocks added to their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning in an odd sequence of events.
Alex George doubled down the right field line to open the frame, and a bobble in right allowed George to move to third with nobody out.
Colton Janssen hit a ground ball to short, but George was cut down at the plate for the first out. Janssen advanced to second on the run-down. One batter later, Zach Cain hit a shot off the pitcher's glove that deflected to the second baseman. Cain was thrown at first with Janssen advancing to second base with two outs. The next batter,
Emmett Kulick, laced an rbi-double into left field to give Fanning some late insurance.
Fanning came back out in the seventh and induced his fourth double play of the game to propel him to the win. He shut the door in the seventh with a strikeout to end game one.
Ravelo and George led the Peacocks with two hits apiece, while Ravelo and Kulick each picked up an RBI in the low-scoring matchup.
Game Two
It was the lefty matchup of UIU's
Ryan Munoz and UMD's Kevin Stocke in game two on Monday. After two scoreless innings, the Bulldog offense came alive. Drew Stewart opened the scoring in third with an rbi-single to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. In the fourth inning, Minnesota Duluth would put up a three spot to stretch out their lead. A two-run single and a sacrifice fly helped push the lead to 4-0, and the Bulldogs were in command, forcing Munoz out of the game.
An rbi-single from catcher Marco Lucarelli in the fifth inning extended the lead for the visitors, and two more runs would cross in the sixth off Peacock reliever
Jay Kiel. Upper Iowa, trailing 7-0 in the 6th inning, pushed across three runs to cut into the deficit after back-to-back bases-loaded walks and a Bulldog error. However, UIU would commit an error in the seventh to allow UMD to get two runs back and lead 9-3. Minnesota Duluth led 10-4 before George came in from right field to pitch a scoreless top of the ninth for the Peacocks.
Munoz took the loss after tossing 3.2 innings of work, allowing four runs (three earned) while striking out three and walking three. Cain, George, and
Mitch Moser all tallied two hits in the game two loss.
