The UIU softball team welcomed the No. 22 Winona State University Warriors to Eischeid Softball Complex on Wednesday afternoon for both their home opener and NSIC debut after the doubleheader was moved to Fayette and pushed back a day. The Warriors used a well-rounded effort to take two from the Peacocks by final scores of 7-1 and 10-0 (5 Inn.). WSU improved to 17-5 (2-0 NSIC) with the sweep while UIU fell to 8-9 (0-2 NSIC).

Julia Buffington scored the Peacocks' lone run of the day with a homer to left center and led the UIU bats with two hits and a pair of stolen bases.

The Warriors racked up 30 hits between the two games including two doubles and three long balls to score 17 runs. Winona State's pitching crew was solid on the day, striking out 20 batters and holding the Peacocks to one run on five total hits.  

Game One: Winona State 7, Upper Iowa 1
Winona State got out to an early 1-0 lead with an rbi-single up the middle in the first inning. The Peacocks looked to tie the game up in the visitor half of the third inning when Jenny Budds was walked and then advanced to second and third on sacrifice bunts by Kaylee Frenette and Sami Kay Shafranski, but WSU's Jordyn Kleman turned away the scoring opportunity with her sixth strikeout of the game. 

The Warriors were able to extend their advantage to 4-0 with a run in the third and two scores in the fourth. Buffington cut into the lead to 4-1 with a solo shot to left center in the sixth, but the Warriors responded with back-to-back home runs of their own to go with an rbi-fielder's choice to put the game away.

Kleman earned her eighth win of the season with a complete game effort in the circle while Emily Kisch took the loss after throwing 4.0 innings and allowing four runs on eight hits. Jaclyn Thompson and Erin Drahozal both came on in relief and allowed a combined three runs on five hits and three walks.   

Game Two: Winona State 10, Upper Iowa 0 (5 innings)
The second game of the day saw the Peacocks end up on the wrong side of a run-shortened five-inning game. Upper Iowa managed to get four runners on base thanks to two hits, a Warrior error and a walk, but the Peacocks never got past third base as two runners were caught stealing and other two were left on. 

The Warriors, on the other hand, had no trouble with their offense. Winona State scratched the board early with two runs on four hits in the first inning, and then added another score in the second frame to make the score 3-0. The Warriors then exploded for six runs in the third inning before Drahozal replaced Sydney Wilcox on the mound and recorded the final out of the inning.

WSU added another insurance tally off a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth before loading the bases once more with two outs. Katie Schlegel entered the game as a pinch hitter for the Warriors but Drahozal was able to work the team out of another jam with a ground out to third.

WSU starter Liz Pautz struck out eight Peacocks in her five innings of work to earn the shutout victory. Wilcox suffered the loss after tossing 2.2 innings, allowing nine runs on 14 hits. Drahozal gave up one run on three hits in 1.1 innings.