The Peacock baseball team was swept by the Golden Eagles of the University of Minnesota Crookston on Saturday afternoon in northwest Minnesota. The Golden Eagles were the away team despite playing on their field due to a site swap with predicted weather in Fayette. UMC scored 17 of their 21 runs on the day in just four innings thanks to a pair of five-run frames, one with four and one with three. The Golden Eagles took the series 3-1 and are now 18-20 overall and 12-14 in the Northern Sun, while the Peacocks fell to 14-18 overall and 10-14 in the conference.
The Golden Eagles scored a run in each of the first three innings, while Upper Iowa battled back to tie the game at 3-3 with a run in the second inning and two in the third. With one out in the second,
Zackary Cain,
Colton Janssen and
Mitch Moser all singled to load the bases. A wild pitch sent Cain home, but the Peacocks couldn't push any more runs across. In the third,
Anthony Calton opened the inning with a homerun to right center, and after
Luis D. Ravelo-Herrera reached on an error, Cain hit a run-scoring double to the gap in left to plate the tying run.
Upper Iowa took a short-lived 4-3 lead with a run in the fourth inning thanks to an rbi-single by
Jaime Ramos to send Moser to the dish. The lead didn't last though; the Golden Eagles scored five runs in the fifth inning on five hits and could have had more, but a strikeout with the bases loaded ended the UMC rally.
The Peacocks bounced back and cut the deficit to just one run, 8-7, in the bottom of the sixth. A pair of walks and a single by
Emmett Kulick loaded the bases with no outs. Ramos rapped a double to right center and sent all three Peacocks home and left the tying run in scoring position with no outs. A pair of walks and a flyout loaded the bases again with just one out, but the Peacocks failed to take advantage leaving the bags full when the inning ended.
UMC didn't let the momentum stay with UIU in the top of the seventh. The Golden Eagles put the game away with five more runs on four hits including a three-run homer by Patrick Armeson. The runs gave the Golden Eagles a 13-7 advantage heading into the final Peacock at bats. UIU got a leadoff walk, but three straight strikeouts ended the game.
Jacob Butcher picked up the win to improve to 5-2 on the year with five innings of work; he allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits. Zach Seipel earned a two-inning save, his eighth of the year.
Ryan Munoz fell to 1-3 on the year suffering the loss after 4.2 innings on the hill. The southpaw allowed seven runs, six earned, on 9 hits, while registering 7 strikeouts.
Ross Kulick allowed a pair of hits and a run, while
Jay Kiel gave the team a chance with 1.1 innings which included four strikeouts and no UMC runs. Moser pitched the seventh and allowed five runs on four hits.
Cain and Ramos each had two hits at the plate for UIU, while Ramos delivered a career-high four rbi in the game.
In the series finale, the Peacocks scored a run in the opening inning when Calton doubled down the right field line and later scored on a ground out by
Jacob Greco.
The 1-0 lead held up until the top of the fourth inning when the Golden Eagles took advantage of a pair of Peacock errors on the left side of the infield that allowed three unearned runs to score. After a quick 1-2-3 inning, the UMC bats returned to the plate and added four more unearned runs in the fifth inning. The UIU defense converted a pair of ground outs to get the first two batters out, but an error on the infield gave the inning new life and allowed an rbi-triple, rbi-single and a two-run triple giving the home team a 7-1 lead.
A pair of singles with no outs by Moser and Ramos set up
Dominic Hillesheim to begin UIU's rally with an rbi-double to left. A second run scored on a wild pitch and left a runner on third with one out, but HIllesheim was stranded there. Ravelo homered over the fence in left with one out in the sixth and then singled through the left side with two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh to cut the gap to just one run, 7-6, heading to the eighth inning.
Minnesota Crookston picked up an insurance run in the top of the eighth after a walk and hit by pitch put two runners on the bases with one out. Upper Iowa didn't see another baserunner over the final two innings dropping the game 8-6.
Parker Hanson (3-2) got the win with six innings of work allowing six runs on eight hits, and Seipel came back on to throw the ninth and earn his second save of the day and ninth of the season.
Cain took the loss with five innings on the bump allowing seven runs, all of which were unearned, on eight hits.
Clayton Lieb allowed a run on one hit in his 2.1 innings, and
Alex George threw 1.2 innings giving up no runs on two hits.
Ravelo and Hillesheim both picked up two hits apiece, while Ravelo drove in three runs during UIU's attempted comeback.
The Peacocks are on the road again next week for six games in the Northern Sun Conference. UIU will travel to Wayne State College on Wednesday, Apr. 19 for a double header with the Wildcats. Upper Iowa will then head to the University of Sioux Falls on Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 22-23 for a four-game series with the Cougars.
