THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK SOFTBALL…
Upper Iowa (17-29, 9-15 NSIC) will play the final six games of the regular season this week, beginning with the home finales against the #11 Mavericks of Minnesota State University, Mankato on Tuesday, Apr. 26. The games were originally scheduled for Wednesday, but projected rain in the forecast moved the games up a day. The Peacocks will then head northwest to take on the MSU Moorhead Dragons on Saturday, Apr. 29, before closing out the regular year at Northern State on Sunday, Apr. 30. Tuesday's games with MSU will start at 2 p.m., and will be available online on UIU TV and in eastern Iowa on KCRG TV 9.3. Saturday's doubleheader with MSUM will get underway at 1 p.m., while the Sunday finale in Aberdeen, S.D. gets going at 12 p.m.
| GAMES 47-48 |
GAMES 49-50 |
GAMES 51-52 |
| VS. #11 MINNESOTA STATE |
AT MSU MOORHEAD |
AT NORTHERN STATE |
| TUESDAY, APRIL 25 |
SATURDAY, APRIL 29 |
SUNDAY, APRIL 30 |
| 2 P.M. || KCRG 9.3 |
1 P.M. |
12 P.M. |
| FAYETTE, IOWA |
MOORHEAD, MINN. |
ABERDEEN, S.D. |
PEACOCK STORYLINES...
LAST WEEK: The Peacocks went 2-4 in their six-game week, including a 1-4 record at home on Senior Weekend. Upper Iowa picked up a split at Wayne State, using an Emily Kisch complete game to win game two to salvage the twin bill. On Saturday, UIU held a 7-1 lead going to the 7th inning against Minot State, and held off a ferocious comeback to pick up the win. The Beavers then rallied in the eighth inning to win 4-2 in game two. It was a tough Sunday for Upper Iowa, dropping a pair of games to U-Mary, with a 7th-inning comeback coming up short with the bases loaded and two outs in game one.
PEACOCK SENIORS: The 2017 senior class of Sammy Garrett, Serenity Higgins, Riley Kruel, Katie Sammons, and Tara Walls was recognized between games against U-Mary on Sunday, and as a group they have compiled 102 wins, just one shy of the Upper Iowa record for wins by a senior class (2016), including 61 wins in the NSIC. This class made three straight trips to the NSIC Tournament, and was a major part of the record-setting 2016 campaign that featured an NSIC Tournament Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth. These ladies have racked up a combined 542 hits and scored 281 runs. They have a total of 74 doubles, 31 home runs and 209 RBI in 643 games.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS…
#11 MINNESOTA STATE: The Mavericks (44-6, 22-2 NSIC) is on a current 14-game winning streak, with another 6-0 week completed. Four of the six games last week were shutouts for MSU, including an 8-0 and 2-0 sweep of Southwest Minnesota State. Over the weekend, Minnesota State shut out Northern State and MSU Moorhead as well. Senior Coley Ries (23-2) went 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA for the second week in a row. Ries pitched two perfect games, downing Northern State and MSU Moorhead on Senior Day, while striking out 44 in the process.
MSU MOORHEAD: The Dragons (8-33, 3-21 NSIC) dropped three NSIC doubleheaders last week against St. Cloud State, Concordia-St. Paul, and #11 MSU. Freshman Payton Gaber has a team-best .338 average with three doubles and five RBI, while senior Lauren Meeker leads team with 19 RBI and is second on team with seven doubles. Freshman Madison Paige has a team-best 13 doubles this season, which is just one away from tying a school record for a single-season: she is hitting .327 despite missing nine games with injury.
NORTHERN STATE: The Wolves (27-20-1, 12-11-1 NSIC) came away with three victories in six NSIC match-ups, including a sweep on the road against CSP. NSU combined for eight doubles, two home runs and 17 RBI as a team on the week, and went 34-of-160 from the plate for a team average of .213. In the circle, NSU held opponents to 3.50 earned runs each game.
