THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK SOFTBALL…
Upper Iowa (8-20) will hit the diamond for its second week of the Northern Sun Conference season with six road games. The Peacocks travel to Augustana University on Tuesday for a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m., before heading north for the weekend. UIU battles Bemidji State University on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. for a doubleheader, and will wrap up the weekend at the University of Minnesota Crookston on Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m. The Peacocks will look for their first win of the NSIC year, all with hopes of ending their current seven-game losing streak.
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| GAMESÂ 29-30Â |
GAMES 31-32 |
GAMES 33-34 |
| AT AUGUSTANA |
AT BEMIDJI STATE |
AT MINNESOTA CROOKSTON |
| TUESDAY, APRIL 4 |
SATURDAY, APRIL 8 |
SUNDAY, APRIL 9 |
| 3 P.M. |
1 P.M. |
12 P.M. |
| SIOUX FALLS, S.D. |
BEMIDJI, MINN. |
CROOKSTON, MINN. |
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PEACOCK STORYLINES...
TOUGH OPENING WEEK: The Peacocks had a tough opening week of the NSIC season, dropping six games in that span. UIU lost at Winona State in a midweek doubleheader before dropping their first four league home games to Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State. Opponents hit .308 against the UIU pitching staff, with 11 doubles and 8 home runs in the six games while scoring 43 runs. Upper Iowa also struggled at the plate, scoring three or less runs in five of the six games. UIU hit .221 as a team last week, drawing just 12 walks while striking out 36 times. Saturday against Sioux Falls, the home team fell just short in a seventh-inning comeback, scoring four runs in the last frame to fall 6-5.
250 MARK: After moving into the 500 club as a program at the NCAA Division II level overall, Upper Iowa has now played in 250 games as a member of the Northern Sun Conference. UIU joined the league in 2006, and began playing NSIC softball in the spring of 2007. The Peacocks will play their 251st game in the league in their 11th season. UIU moved up from DIII after the 2003 year, and was a provisional institution until 2006, when they joined the Northern Sun.
YOUNG BLOOD: Freshman Jordyn Brennan provided a major spark to the Peacocks in the first NSIC week of the year. The Hortonville, Wis. native lead the Peacocks in hitting with a .467 average (7-15) including her first career home run against Southwest Minnesota State on Sunday. Brennan was also outstanding at third base, committing no errors while flashing the leathers with nice plays all week.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS…
AUGUSTANA: The Vikings (19-9, 4-2 NSIC) opened NSIC play last week going 4-2 in its first six games. Augustana swept Wayne State on Tuesday before being swept by No. 21 Minnesota State on Saturday. Augie rebounded on Sunday with a sweep over Concordia-St. Paul, winning the opener 7-1 before fighting from behind to win 11-7 in the nightcap to finish the week 4-2. The Vikings hit .328 as a team on the week with nine doubles, one triple and eight home runs, and outscored their opponents 34-18 on the week.
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BEMIDJI STATE: Jessica Yost won Northern Sun Pitcher of the Week honors after posting a 0.29 ERA during the week with four complete games and three shutouts including a perfect game against Minnesota Crookston. Yost allowed just one earned run over 24.0 innings and tallied 44 strikeouts while only walking one. Bemidji State picked up a 5-1 record last week with a sweep of UMC before a split with MSU Moorhead and a sweep of Northern State.
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MINNESOTA CROOKSTON: The Golden Eagles (11-16-1, 1-4-1 NSIC) picked up a 2-1 victory over MSU Moorhead to pick up their 11th win of the season and tie their win total for the 2016 season. UMC needs just one win to tie and one win to break the school record of 12 wins set during the 2004 season. The Golden Eagles had seventh inning rallies against Northern State in both games, causing extra innings before a 9-5 loss in game one, and forcing the 5-5 tie in game two after coming back from a 5-2 deficit in the seventh inning.
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