Upper Iowa's pitching and defense was the key to a pair of non-conference wins against fellow Northern Sun Conference members on Friday morning in West St. Paul, Minn. The Peacocks held both the University of Minnesota Duluth and Concordia University, St. Paul to 3 hits apiece while tallying 19 hits of their own; 15 of those hits came against the Bulldogs. UIU posted an 8-3 win in 8 innings against UMD and a 1-0 shutout against CSP. The wins pushed Upper Iowa's record to 6-2.
Emily Kisch closed out the first game pitching the seventh and eighth innings, while the UIU bats came alive to earn the win in game one and then threw the complete-game shutout in seven innings to get her second win of the day. The junior worked for 9 innings and allowed no runs while scattering 3 hits and striking out 10 batters.
Upper Iowa will head south for their next three double headers on March 6, 7 and 9. The Peacocks will face Maryville University and the University of Missouri-St. Louis in St. Louis and McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill.
Upper Iowa 8 – Minnesota Duluth 3 (8 Inn.)
The Peacocks got their first run of the game in the top of the third when
Sami Kay Shafranski scored an unearned run thanks to a throwing error on the infield that would have ended the inning. UIU extended their lead to 3-0 in the fourth thanks to a
Kaylee Frenette rbi-single to left and a
Jenny Budds rbi-single to center scoring
Emily Draeger and
Amanda Williams.
The Bulldogs got a run back with a leadoff homerun in the fourth, but UIU's starter
Jaclyn Thompson was able to settle back in and finish the inning without any further damage. In the sixth inning a leadoff walk followed by a two-run blast tied the game at 3-3.
In extra innings, the Peacock bats went wild in the eighth inning scoring 5 runs on 6 hits. The inning was highlighted by a Draeger homer to open the frame, a Shafranski rbi-single, a sac fly from Budds, a
Jordyn Brennan rbi-double and a
Katie Crogan rbi-single. The Bulldogs went quietly in the bottom of the eighth to earn UIU an 8-3 win.
Thompson got a no-decision after four innings in the circle. The senior allowed two hits and four walks while striking out four, while
Erin Drahozal allowed two runs on one hit in her two innings.
At the plate, Crogan had four hits, while Brennan and Frenette each had three and Shafranski recorded two.
Upper Iowa 1 – Concordia-St. Paul 0
In the second game of the day, the pitchers and defenders took control holding the offenses to a combined four hits. Upper Iowa and Kisch did not allow a runner to advance past second base in the game, while Concordia-St. Paul and their two pitchers did equally as well allowing only two Peacocks past second base.
The Peacocks scored the only run they needed in the bottom of the third inning when Frenette tripled down the leftfield line. Frenette came home on a single by Shafranski giving UIU their 1-0 lead. The Golden Bears left a runner on base in the fourth and fifth innings, but Kisch shut the door on CSP in the sixth and seven innings. She allowed a baserunner in each of the final two frames only to have them nabbed at second trying to steal by Draeger behind the plate.
