Upper Iowa opened the NSIC home schedule on Saturday afternoon at the Eischeid Softball Complex with a pair of games against the Sioux Falls Cougars. The visitors stole the show with a big four-run inning in game one to pull away from the Peacocks, and UIU's comeback fell short to drop 6-5. In game two, USF scored at least once in each of the final four innings to shutout UIU 5-0.
 
With the losses, Upper Iowa falls to 8-18 overall and 0-4 to start Northern Sun Conference play. The sweep improves Sioux Falls to 16-13 overall and 3-1 in league action.
 
Game One
Upper Iowa struck first in game one in the bottom of the first inning to open the scoring. Sammy Garrett crushed a solo home run to left field to give the Peacocks a 1-0 lead. Freshman pitcher Emily Kisch took the early lead and held it down through the first three innings, but the Cougars opened it up in the fourth.
 
USF put together a five-run fourth inning, but none of the runs were earned. Upper Iowa made a couple of errors in the field that sparked the rally for the visitors. After a error on shortstop Riley Kruel, Sioux Falls put runners on second and third with two outs. The next batter hit a ground ball to short, but the throw from Kruel went off the glove of first baseman Tara Walls, allowing two runs to score. An rbi-single and a two-run home run would bring in three more runs, stretching the lead to five. All the runs were unearned in the inning, giving the visitors a 5-1 advantage.
 
Upper Iowa had chances to score, but Sioux Falls starter Kerrigan Hoshaw stranded a pair of runners in both the fourth and fifth innings to keep the score 5-1. Hoshaw helped her own cause in the top of the seventh, ripping an rbi-double to right center to push the lead to 6-1. That extra run would prove big when UIU made its comeback in the bottom of the seventh.
 
With the bases loaded and two outs, trailing by five, Sami Kay Shafranski singled to shortstop to push across a run. Garrett followed with a two-run single for her second and third rbi's of the afternoon. Walls then reached on an error at first base to get UIU within one, 6-5. However, a groundout ended the threat and the game, with the visitors holding on for the 6-5 win.
 
Garrett led the way with a pair of hits and three runs batted in, while Green and Jordyn Brennan each totaled two hits as well. Kisch took the loss in game one, allowing six runs, but just one earned, while striking out three and walking four.
 
Game Two
The story of game two was Sioux Falls starting pitcher Breanna Black, who locked down the Upper Iowa offense during her six innings of work in the circle. The Peacocks totaled just four hits off Black, and put just six base runners on the entire game.
 
On the other side, USF broke through against Peacock starter Erin Drahozal. In the fourth inning, Jasmine Ragusi shot a solo home run to left field, with the pitcher Black following with an rbi-double to give USF a 2-0 lead. Ragusi singled in the fifth to plate another, and the Cougars would go on to score a run in the sixth and seventh to push the lead to 5-0.
 
Riley Kruel totaled two of the four hits in game two, but Upper Iowa could not string hits together to push across runs. Drahozal took the loss after tossing five innings of work allowing three runs on seven hits in the outing.