This Week in Peacock Baseball... The Peacocks were staring another six road games in the face this week, but Mother Nature intervened in Marshall, Minn. Upper Iowa and Southwest Minnesota State University have agreed to play their double header in Fayette at Robertson Woods Field on Wednesday beginning at 1:30 p.m. due to a wintry mix forecasted in southern Minnesota. UIU will head back out on the road this weekend with a four-game series at #16 Minnesota State University, Mankato in Mankato, Minn.
Veteran Leadership... Upper Iowa's lineup is filled with veteran bats and gloves. Senior
Anthony Calton leads the team in batting average at .361 thanks to 43 hits including 8 doubles to slug .496. Fayette native
Jacob Greco is the team's leader in slugging percentage at .559 thanks to his 9 doubles, a triple and 3 homeruns; he is hitting .344 with 32 hits on the year and has seen his average rise 49 points in the last 16 games.
Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other... Redshirt junior
Brett Fanning, who wears number 6, is on top of his game in 2017. Upper Iowa's ace on the hill lowered his earned run average to 2.29 with his sixth complete game of the season last Saturday at Sioux Falls. While holding the Cougars to just one run over seven innings, Fanning improved to 5-2 on the year. The Spring Valley, Minn. product has appeared in 9 games making 8 starts and has not gone less than 5 innings in each of his starts. Opponents are hitting just .253 against the right hander.
Looking in the Rearview for the Peacocks... Wayne State College stole a pair of victories on Thursday in Wayne, Neb. over Upper Iowa thanks to late rallies that erased a pair of Peacock one-run leads. WSC scored three runs in the sixth inning of game one to win 7-5 and then scored a pair of runs in the eighth inning of game two to win 7-6. The Peacocks swept a pair of games at the University of Sioux Falls on Saturday. Upper Iowa claimed game one 6-1 behind Fanning's strong showing and game two 13-9 thanks to a nine-run explosion in the seventh inning. USF returned the sweep on Sunday behind a strong showing at the plate and on the mound. The Cougars took down the Peacocks in game one 20-2 and then scored an 11-1 decision in game two, which was shortened to seven innings due to the NSIC run-rule.
Alex George went 11-20 (.550) with a double for the week to lead the Peacocks in hitting, while Greco hit .500 (9-18) in the six games including a 7-8 day at Wayne State.
Last Week for the Mustangs… SMSU recorded its first four-game sweep since the 2014 season and its first at home since the 2010 season with four wins over the University of Mary last weekend. Mustangs Head Coach Paul Blanchard has now recorded 499 career victories at SMSU after using a pair of walk-off victories to defeat U-Mary on Sunday. Shane Sellner batted .471 in six games last week with one home run and four RBIs.
Last Week for the Mavericks… The #16 Mavericks went 6-0 last week claiming a home pair against Northern State University on Tuesday and a four-game series at Bemidji State University on Friday and Saturday. MSU's pitching staff has been one of the best in NCAA DII ranking 4th in hits allowed per nine innings (7.43), 3rd in strikeout to walk ratio (3.44), 11th in strikeouts/nine innings (9.5). Mitchell Bauer (7-0, 2.31 ERA) and Dalton Roach (7-0, 2.22 ERA) are tied for the team lead with seven victories each.
