The Upper Iowa baseball team split an NSIC double-header against the UMary Marauders on Wednesday afternoon. The Marauders took the first game of the day 12-7 but the Peacocks rebounded in game two and came out on top 8-5. The pair of contests brings the Peacocks record to 5-5 (2-3 NSIC) while the Marauders move to 7-9 (4-1 NSIC).
Game One: UMary 12 - Upper Iowa 7
The Peacocks got things off to a quick start against the Marauders in game one, adding a run in each of the first two frames. Upper Iowa started things off when
Hogan Penny singled up the middle to knock in
Zac Cain in the bottom of the first.
Cole Scieszinski drove in the second run of the game, singling to left to bring home
Riley Braughton.
The Marauder bats came alive in the third inning, tagging Upper Iowa starter
Colin Lacey for 6 runs on 3 hits. UMary continued to hit the ball well, tacking on 5 more runs in the top of the fourth thanks to a three-run shot off the bat of UMary's Darius Barlas.
In the fifth, the Marauders added one more run off an RBI double to establish a 12-2 lead. Upper Iowa began to chip away at the UMary lead, getting a run back in the bottom half of the frame and then
Cole Scieszinski ripped an RBI double to bring the score to 12-4.
In their last at bats of game, the Peacocks put two men on for
Steve Diderrich Jr. who took the Marauders dead-center for a three-run jack and first of the year. Despite the late-game bomb from Diderrich, the Marauders were able to hold of the last second rally from the Peacocks to close out game one 12-7.
Colin Lacey was on the hill to start for the Peacocks, picking up 6 earned in his 2.2 innings of work, surrendering 3 hits, walking 5, and striking out 1. Lacey was charged with the loss in game one, bringing his record to 0-4 to start the season.
Chris Webber,
Logan DeWulf,
Chris Harsh,
Mac Wolfe, and
Evan Rice shared the relief duties, collectively allowing 6 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks while punching out 5.
Game Two: Upper Iowa 8 - UMary 5
The Peacocks opened the scoring in game two when
Steve Diderrich Jr. hit his second long ball of the day, a two-run shot to straightaway center in the bottom of the second.
The Maraurders drove in 4 runs in the top of the fourth to jump out to a 4-2 lead.
Upper Iowa answered with two more runs to even the score at 4-4 after
Tony Salato hit a grounder to third to bring in
Riley Braughton. The next batter up,
AJ Friedrich, smacked a wall-ball double that brought Salato across the plate and knotted the score.
With
Kyle Routhieaux on first in the bottom of the sixth, Diderrich took the Marauders to deep left center for his second round-tripper of the game and third of the day, putting UIU on top 6-4.
The Peacocks added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh and eighth off a wild pitch and an error.
A pair of Peacocks shared the load from the bump in game two.
Alexander Morales got the ball for the start, allowing 4 runs, only 1 earned, on 5 hits through his 6 innings of work while picking up 7 strikeouts.
Parker Kray came on in relief for the final three innings, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits to pick up his first save of the season. The 8-5 win over UMary improves Morales' record to 2-1 for the season.
Between the two games Diderrich went 6-8, picked up 7 RBIs, scored 4 runs, hit 3 homeruns, and 1 double.
The Peacocks are scheduled to return to the field this weekend for a three-game series against the Northern State Wolves.
