The Peacock softball team closed out their long weekend in Arkansas with a split in their final two games against Washburn University in Conway on Monday. Upper Iowa bounced back for a 6-5 win in the second game after dropping the first contest 9-2. The split pushed UIU's record to 4-2 after the first weekend of action.
Katie Crogan led the Peacocks in the six games with 8 hits including a pair of doubles and a home run. Crogan hit .471 and slugged .765 with 6 rbi.
Emily Kisch and
Sydney Wilcox paced the pitching staff with 17.2 and 14.1 innings, respectively.
UIU's upcoming schedule is up in the air after their tournament at Emporia State was canceled due to predicted weather in Kansas over the next six days.
Washburn 9 - Upper Iowa 2
In the first game of the day, the Ichabods scored a run in the first inning and added three more in the third frame to jump out to a 4-0 lead. Washburn continued to pile onto their lead with a run in the sixth and four in the seventh to take a 9-0 lead.
Prior to UIU's final at bat, the Peacocks only had one hit, but the team was able to string four hits together in the bottom of the seventh to score two and cut the final deficit to 9-2. After a leadoff single by
Emily Draeger, the Ichabods forced a pair of fielder's choices to leave a runner on first with two outs.
Jenny Budds singled and advanced to second on a throw to third leaving a pair of runners in scoring position.
Jordyn Brennan came through with a single to plate both runners and give UIU their first runs of the day.
Sydney Wilcox took the loss after her three innings of work; she allowed 4 runs on 6 hits and a walk, while
Erin Drahozal threw 3.1 innings of relief and surrendered 5 runs, 4 earned, on 7 hits and a walk.
Jaclyn Thompson recorded the final two outs.
Katie Crogan led the team at the plate with a pair of hits.
Upper Iowa 6 - Washburn 5
The Peacocks used the momentum gained in the final half inning of game one to get started in the second contest. In the top of the first,
Sami Kay Shafranski opened the game with a double and scored later in the inning on an rbi-grounder by Brennan. Three straight walks loaded the bases, but the Ichabods escaped after forcing a ground out.
Washburn rallied with two runs on three straight hits including back-to-back triples to right field.
The see-saw battle continued in the second as UIU scored a pair to retake a 3-2 lead, only to see the Ichabods score two more and move back in front 4-3. UIU's runs came without a hit thanks to an error, a hit batsmen and three straight walks earning Crogan and Drahozal runs batted in.
The Ichabods got back ahead 4-3 after the second inning when recorded a pair of doubles around a single.
In the fourth inning Budds and Brennan singled and both came home on a Crogan double to left field giving the Peacocks a 5-4 lead.
Washburn was able to tie the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the fifth on an rbi-single with two outs, but a strikeout by UIU's starter
Emily Kisch ended the threat.
UIU took the lead in the top of the seventh inning on an rbi-single off the bat of
Kaylee Frenette.
Kennedy Newell, who singled to open the seventh, scored the eventual game winning run.
With a pair of runners on base and just one out, the Ichabods tried to tie the game in their final at bat, but Kisch got an infield pop up and a strike out to end the threat and game.
Kisch earned the win with a complete game throwing 7 innings and scattering 12 hits for Washburn's 5 runs. The Peacock junior recorded 5 strikeouts.
Shafranski tallied 3 hits in the game, while Newell added a pair of hits. Crogan drove in 3 runners.
