The Peacock baseball team fell at the hands of the No. 11 Vikings of Augustana University on Wednesday afternoon in Decorah, Iowa on Luther College's campus. The games were originally scheduled to be played in Fayette Tuesday afternoon, but recent weather in the area dropped over 10 inches of snow on Robertson Woods Field, making the ballpark unplayable for the teams. Augustana used a complete-game shutout from right-hander Tyler Mitzel to blank UIU 4-0, before a run-ruled game two from the Vikings earned them the sweep, 13-3, in seven innings. With the wins, Augie improves to 20-1 on the season and 7-1 in the Northern Sun Conference, while the losses drop the Peacocks to 7-8 overall and 5-4 in league play.
Upper Iowa is off now to Mauston, Wis. for the next two days as they take on the Bulldogs of the University of Minnesota Duluth for a four-game series. The teams were originally scheduled to play in Duluth, Minn. on Friday and Saturday, Mar. 30-31, but low temperatures in the area have forced a re-location. The teams will meet up in Mauston, Wis. for a doubleheader on Thursday, Mar. 29 at 4:30 p.m., and will wrap up their series on Friday, Mar. 30 at 1 p.m. Live stats will be available
Game 1: Augustana 4 - Upper Iowa 0
Mitzel allowed just four hits to the Peacocks in the opening game Wednesday, and got some help from his offense when needed as well. Upper Iowa's
Colin Lacey allowed four runs (three earned) on 12 hits, but worked in and out of trouble a few different times in a pretty solid, going the full seven innings on the mound. The southpaw suffered the loss to drop to 2-2 on the season.
In the third inning, the Vikings took the lead and would not look back. A run-scoring double was followed by an rbi-single to give Augustana the 2-0 advantage, and the visitors would add to that lead later on. In the fourth, the Peacocks gave their guests a little extra help with an error at shortstop by
Brenden Butler, and UIU was now trailing 3-0. The final came on an odd play in the top of the seventh, when a ball dropped along the right field line. UIU's
Dominic Hillesheim tried to throw to second base to try to get a force out, but he could not connect with Butler at the second-base bag, and a run came in to score to push the Augie lead to 4-0.
Hans Alwin,
Jacob Greco,
Tony Salato, and Hillesheim each tallied hits for the Peacocks.
Game 2: Augustana 13 - Upper Iowa 3
The Vikings jumped right out of the gates in the second game of the doubleheader, jumping Peacock starter
Collin Thomas for four runs on six hits in the opening inning, including a pair of doubles. All nine Augustana batters made a trip to the plate in the opening frame, as the team tallied six straight hits after the first out. Upper Iowa needed to respond early, and were able to grab one of those runs back in the bottom of the first. Greco, who had a big second game at the plate, punched a run-scoring single through the left side to score Salato to get UIU within 4-1.
The middle innings were all about the Viking offense, as they scored 9 runs in a three-inning stretch. The three runs in the fourth were highlighted by three rbi-singles, and the fifth frame was fueled by a pair of Upper Iowa errors in the field. Augustana scored three in the fourth, fifth, and sixth, with the sixth inning coming on a single, a wild pitch, and a fielder's choice.
Greco added two more runs in the fifth inning when he scored his two-run home run to left field. It appeared as though the ball would bounce off the fence, but it was just high enough to get over the wall in left for his team-leading third blast of the season.
Augustana shut out UIU in the seventh inning, forcing the game to end two innings short due to the mercy rule.
Thomas took the loss for the Peacocks, dropping to 0-2 on the season, after tossing 4.1 innings allowing 10 runs (8 earned) on 14 hits. Offensively, Greco and Hillesheim led the way with two hits apiece.
