The Peacock softball team closed out the St. Cloud State Classic on Saturday with another sweep to open their season 4-0. Upper Iowa topped the Yellow Jackets of Black Hills State University 8-4 in game one before coming back with a 4-1 victory in game two. The 12 runs scored on the day is the most in a single doubleheader since March of 2017, when they scored 13 runs against Wisconsin-Parkside. With the wins, UIU starts their season 4-0 for the first time since joining NCAA Division II. Black Hills State drops to 0-4 with the losses.

Upper Iowa will head to the UAM 8-State NCAA Division II Softball Classic in Bentonville, Ark. in two weeks, Feb. 16-18, for six games in three days. The Peacocks will begin with a rematch with Wisconsin-Parkside to open the classic.

Game 1: UIU 8 - BHSU 4
Trailing 1-0 in the second inning, the Peacocks, the home team on the scoreboard, evened game one with an rbi-double from Julia Buffington. Upper Iowa took the lead in the third inning with a run-scoring single from Katie Crogan, and UIU would not look back. In the fourth inning, the Peacocks added to their lead with an rbi-fielder's choice by Buffington and a run-scoring error from the Yellow Jackets defense. Sami Kay Shafranski reached on an error to push across the run, and UIU led 4-1 after four.

Black Hills State tied the game in the fifth win a pair of home runs, but Upper Iowa answered in their half of the inning. Erin Drahozal reached on an error in right field, scoring another Peacock run to reclaim the lead. Buffington's two-run double added to the lead that the Peacocks would not surrender. Another run in the sixth came from a single off the bat of Payton Kastenschmidt, and the 8-4 lead was in tact.

Game 2: UIU 4 - BHSU 1
In a lower-scoring game two, again it was the Yellow Jackets who struck first. After three scoreless innings from sophomore pitcher Emily Kisch, Black Hills State took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning off a fielder's choice. However, the Peacock offense stepped up in the late innings to help out their pitcher.

With runners on first and third in the fifth inning, Shafranski stepped up and laid down a sacrifice bunt, scoring Jenna Moody, and reaching first safely in the process. The game was tied at that point, but the Peacocks were not done.

An inning later, Buffington, who had been driving in runs all day, did it again. The junior roped a two-run shot to take a 3-1 lead, and three batters later, Ali Green ripped an rbi-single to score Crogan and give the Peacocks a commanding 4-1 advantage. Kisch slammed the door shut in the seventh, and Upper Iowa walked out of St. Cloud 4-0.