Upper Iowa's baseball team earned a split on the diamond on Friday against the Bulldogs of the University of Minnesota Duluth in Mauston, Wis. The Peacocks dropped game one 6-4 as their losing skid hit five straight, but a 15-4 win in 8 innings in game two snapped the streak. After the split, UIU moved to 8-11 overall and 6-7 in the Northern Sun, while UMD evened their record at 11-11 overall and 7-3 in the conference.
The Peacocks are scheduled to host Lewis University on Wednesday in a non-conference double header before returning to the NSIC with a four-game series at Northern State University on Apr. 7-8 in Aberdeen, S.D.
Game One: Minnesota Duluth 6 - Upper Iowa 4
Upper Iowa used a pair of singles from
Jacob Greco and
Conner Klostermann along with a stolen base for Greco to score the game's first run in the opening frame.
UMD answered with a pair of runs on two hits and a Peacock error in the bottom of the first. The Bulldogs expanded their lead to five runs, 6-1, with four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on five hits and another UIU error.
The Peacocks rallied with three runs in the top of the sixth thanks to five hits of their own. Greco led off with a double to center and came home on a Klostermann single.
Hans Alwin and
Emmett Kulick hit back-to-back, rbi-doubles to push the second and third runs across to pull UIU within two, 6-4.
UIU put the tying run on base in the seventh thanks to a Greco single and Klostermann walk, but a final out ended the threat and the game.
Kolton Gonnerman (2-2) suffered the loss after throwing 6 innings while allowing 6 runs (5 earned) on 11 hits and 6 strikeouts. Greco led the squad with 3 hits, while Klostermann, Alwin and
Callahan Seehase each recorded 2 hits apiece.
Game Two: Upper Iowa 15 - Minnesota Duluth 4 (8)
Upper Iowa's offense erupted in the final game of the series with 15 runs on 18 hits. The Peacocks pushed through seven Bulldog pitchers in the game, while Peacock starter
Brett Fanning earned the complete game victory with 8 innings of work. The redshirt senior scattered 10 hits while allowing 4 runs.
UMD scored a run in the first, second, third and fifth innings, but never put a crooked number on the scoreboard.
The Peacocks scored their run in the first on an rbi-single by Klostermann, while the two runs in the second came on a two-run single off the bat of
Zac Cain. UIU put three runs on the board in the third inning to push their lead to 6-2. The runs came on a double by Alwin, a wild pitch that allowed Alwin to score and a solo homer by
Emmett Kulick.
UIU added two runs in the fifth on a
Cole Scieszinski rbi-double to center and another wild pitch that allowed him to score. The Peacocks scored another pair of runs in the sixth pushing their lead to 10-4. The runs in the sixth came on a single by Kulick and a Seehase double to right.
The Peacocks put the game away in the top of the eighth with five runs on four hits. Seehase hammered a three-run homer to highlight the big inning. Alwin tripled to plate the final two runs of the game and put UIU ahead 15-4.
At the plate, Seehase went 4-5 with 4 rbi and Greco and Kulick each picked up 3 hits.
