The Peacock softball team ran into pitching on Saturday up north in Bismarck, N.D. against the Marauders of the University of Mary. It was the first home game of the season for UMary, and the Marauders played hard on Senior Day because of it. Upper Iowa's offense struggled to get anything going, and were held to a grand total of seven hits in a pair of low-scoring losses. UIU dropped the opener 2-1 on a walk-off hit, while UMary scored in three straight innings to take game two, 3-1. With the losses, UIU is back to .500 overall at 18-18, and drops to 5-11 in NSIC play.
Upper Iowa heads up to Minot, N.D. on Sunday, Apr. 22 to wrap up their road weekend with a matchup with the Beavers of Minot State University. The doubleheader gets underway at 11 a.m.
Game 1: UM 2 - UIU 1
Sophomore
Emily Kisch was in a pitching dual in the opener Saturday with UMary's Brittany Backes, and Kisch held her own in seven innings of work. UIU's right-hander allowed just two runs on nine hits in the complete-game loss, and dropped to 9-7 in the process. Her offense, however, was limited to just two hits in seven innings.
Five scoreless innings began the game, and it was the Peacocks who finally broke through in the top of the sixth.
Jordyn Brennan launched her fourth home run of the season on a solo shot to right field to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the inning, however, the Marauders would answer back to even it up. An rbi-single tied the game at one, and after UIU went down in the top of the seventh, UMary had a chance to win it. With the bases loaded, the home team walked off with a single to complete the miniature comeback, and top the Peacocks 2-1.
Brennan and
Payton Kastenschmidt had the lone hits for UIU in game one.
Game 2: UM 3 - UIU 1
The pitching duals continued in game two Saturday, with
Sydney Wilcox picking up right where Kisch left off. The youngster went the distance, allowing three runs on nine hits, and fell to 1-2 on the season. But once again, the Peacock offense was stymied by outstanding Marauder pitching. UIU tallied five hits in the final game, and were able to produce a run late.
UMary struck first in the fourth inning, breaking a scoreless tie with a run on a dropped pop up in the infield. The drop allowed the run to score to give the home team a 1-0 lead, and they would add to it an inning later. The Marauders scored one run in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to hold a 3-0 lead. An rbi-single in the fifth and a run-scoring hit in the sixth pushed the lead out, and the UMary pitching would not back down.
The Peacocks put up a fight in the seventh, scoring on a single by Kastenschmidt, but UMary would not allow any more, and the Peacocks were swept in Bismarck.
Jenny Budds led the offense with two hits in game two.
