The Peacock softball team played an early morning softball doubleheader on Friday up in the SCSU Dome in St. Cloud, Minn. against the red-hot Bulldogs of the University of Minnesota Duluth. After weather forced a schedule and location change to the dome for the weekend, the teams got together at 9 a.m. Friday morning for a pair of games. UIU led 5-0 in the opening game, but a big comeback guided UMD to a 12-5 victory. The Bulldogs would then you a walk-off in the eighth inning to win 4-3 and sweep the day. With the losses, Upper Iowa drops to .500 at 15-15 overall, and 2-8 in the Northern Sun Conference. Minnesota Duluth improves to 29-8 and 11-3 in league play.

UIU will stay in the dome in St. Cloud on Saturday, Apr. 14 for another morning doubleheader, this time with the host Huskies of St. Cloud State University. The double dip gets underway at 10 a.m.

Game 1: UMD 12 - UIU 5
The opening game in St. Cloud was a tale of two sides. In the first two innings, it was all Upper Iowa on Friday, scoring five times in the first two frames, including a four-run fourth. UIU was going up against a 14-win pitcher in Breanna Swint, and it was a daunting task to score runs. However, the Peacock offense was up for the challenge right away.

In the first, sophomore Jordyn Brennan launched her third home run of the season to put the visitors on the board. UIU did not have much traffic on the base paths, however, until the second inning. In the second, Julia Buffington led it off with a double, and was followed by a walk from Ali Green. After a passed ball moved the runners to second and third, Payton Kastenschmidt rolled a single back up the middle to score both runners to push the lead to 3-0. A sacrifice bunt by Shannon Nix moved Kastenschmidt to second with one out, and the Peacocks weren't done yet.

An Erin Drahozal single put runners on the corners with one away, and a wild pitch ensued. Drahozal ended up at third after a bad throw, and Kastenschmidt scored to push the Upper Iowa lead to 4-0. Jenny Budds ended the scoring with a sacrifice fly to push Drahozal to the plate to cap off a four-run frame, and extend the lead to 5-0.

Once the third inning hit, the Bulldogs started to make their charge at a comeback, and would not look back. One of the best offenses in the Northern Sun built a six-run inning in the third, with scoring coming on back-to-back bases-loaded walks, and a big blow in the form of a grand slam. Peacock starting pitcher Emily Kisch would finish out the third inning, but then was forced out in the fourth after allowing eight earned runs in 3.1 innings of work. Drahozal replaced Kisch in the circle and finished the game, going 2.2 innings allowing four earned on five hits.

Leading 6-5 in the fourth, UMD continued to put pressure on the base paths, scoring twice on back-to-back rbi-singles to extend their lead to 8-5. Three more in the fifth and one in the sixth put the game out of reach, leading 12-5. Combine the offensive surge with outstanding pitching in the final five innings, and the Bulldogs walked away with a game-one win.

Buffington and Kastenschmidt led the way for the Peacock offense, tallying two hits apiece in the opener.

Game 2: UMD 4 - UIU 3 (8 Inn.)
The second game of the double dip featured 13 scoreless half-innings, and just 3 innings with runs scoring. It began in the bottom of the second inning with the Bulldogs grabbing the early lead with a three-spot. Jaclyn Thompson got the start in game two, and would go the distance, tossing 7.1 innings, including six scoreless frames. The big inning allowed was the second, when the Bulldogs kept the bases busy with a two-run single and a sacrifice fly to lead 3-0.

From that point forward, it was a pitcher's dual between Thompson and UMD starter Valerie Hohol. The Peacock offense was limited to just two hits in the first five innings of game two, and needed a late-inning comeback to have a chance. They got that chance in the top of the sixth inning.

After two quick outs, Brennan singled to tally just the third hit of the game, and started a rally in the process. Katie Crogan, the hero in game two on Wednesday in Fayette against Concordia-St. Paul, provided more late-game magic with a double to plate Brennan and get the Peacocks on the board. Buffington then stepped up and singled through the left side, scoring Crogan in the process to make it a 3-2 contest. The hits kept coming, when Green stepped in and roped a run-scoring double to plate Buffington, tying the game in the process. The game was back even, and it was up to the pitching to keep it that way. Thompson held UMD scoreless in the sixth and seventh, sending the game to extra innings.

The Bulldogs, however, had the last laugh, in the bottom of the eighth frame. After a leadoff single, Minnesota Duluth put down a sacrifice bunt to move the runner to second. UMD tried another sacrifice on the next at-bat that would do some damage. An error at first base allowed the game-winning run to score, giving the Bulldogs the sweep.

In the loss, Green and Brennan each tallied two hits apiece to lead the UIU offense.
 

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