The Peacocks dropped both games of their NSIC double header against the Minnesota State Mavericks on Saturday afternoon. Game one finished with the Mavericks on top 7-1 and the final score in game two saw Minnesota State on top 10-3. The pair of losses drops Upper Iowa to 8-20 overall and 5-18 in conference contests while MSU improves to 27-8 and 18-respectively.
The Peacocks will look to rebound this week as they are scheduled to return to the field on Tuesday in St. Paul, Minnesota to take on the CSP Golden Bears in another NSIC double header.
Game One: Minnesota State 7 – Upper Iowa 1
The first game of the double header was all Mavericks as MSU came out of the gates swinging and applied the pressure to the Peacocks from the start. Minnesota State was able to figure out UIU starter
Evan Rice early, tagging the Peacock right hander for 7 runs on 10 hits over the course of his 5 innings.
The Peacocks were unable to answer offensively until the seventh inning when A.J. Friedrich doubled to drive in
Hogan Penny for the Peacocks' love run of game one.
Rice was charged with the loss for game onepen, bringing his record to 0-3 on the season while
Clayton Lieb came on in relief and pitched a perfect sixth inning by retiring all three of the Mavericks that he faced.
The Mavericks benefited from a pair of 2-hit performances from Tom Imholte and Nick Altermatt who both drove in a pair of runs for MSU. Jimmy Larson picked up the win thanks to his 6 innings of scoreless work and 9 strikeouts, improving his record to 5-3 on the year.
Game Two: Minnesota State 10 – Upper Iowa 3
Unlike game one, the Peacocks found themselves on the board first after Friedrich singled to drive in
Tony Salato in the first inning. In the third, UIU tacked on their second run when Penny was able to knock in Zackary Cain to expand the Peacock lead to 2-0.
The UIU lead was short lived as MSU answered in the bottom half of the inning, leveling the score with a two-run shot from Jordan Hart. The blast from Hart kicked off a 10-run streak for the Mavericks that solidified their second victory of the day. Minnesota State's Ty Buck went 3-5 with 4 RBI's and crossed the plate twice to secure the win for MSU.
Logan DeWulf picked up the loss for the Peacocks while his Maverick counterpart, Jon Ludwig, earned the win to improve his record to 3-0 on the season.
