The Peacock softball team extended their win streak to seven games with their third straight NSIC sweep on Sunday afternoon against the Bemidji State Beavers. The Peacocks won the opener by a final score of 7-1 thanks to 11 hits and four BSU errors. The teams then got into a defensive battle in the nightcap that saw the Peacocks come out on top 1-0 in the eighth inning. Upper Iowa improved to 18-13 overall and 10-6 in the conference with the sweep while Bemidji State fell to 22-18 overall and 5-11 against NSIC foes.
Katie Crogan led the Peacock bats with four hits, including a double, and a pair of RBI. Jordyn Brennan also had four hits with a double to go with an RBI. Sami Kay Shafranski, Erin Drahozal and Kaylee Frenette all had multiple hits on the day as well.
Emily Kisch (11-5) and Drahozal (3-0) both picked up wins in the circle, combining for nine walks, five strikeouts and only one run allowed on 12 hits. Jaclyn Thompson pitched a solid five innings in the nightcap in a no-decision effort.
The Peacocks will look to continue their success with another doubleheader on Monday afternoon against the University of Minnesota Crookston. The first pitch is set for 1 p.m. at Eischeid Softball Complex with the Golden Eagles getting the last chance at bat due to the site reversal.
Game One: Upper Iowa 7, Bemidji State 1
Upper Iowa used a trio of crooked innings to get past the Beavers in game one. The Peacocks scored seven runs on 11 hits and four Beavers errors while holding the home team on the scoreboard to one run on six hits.
The Peacocks scored a pair in the third inning to take an early 2-0 lead. Crogan scored the first run of the game with a double to right center that brought Brennan home after she reached on a fielder's choice and stole second. Crogan came around to score on the next play when Julia Buffington hit a high-flying ball out to left field that got lost in the sun and fell in front of the BSU outfielder.
Upper Iowa didn't score again till the sixth inning but managed to put up another pair in the process. Drahozal led off the inning with a two-bagger to left center, moved to third with a stolen base and was scarified home by Kaylee Frenette. Sami Kay Shafranski and Brennan later teamed up to push the UIU lead to 4-0 as Shafranski got on board with an error, stole second and scored on Brennan's double to right field.
Three more runs in the seventh gave the Peacocks some more breathing room going into the final half inning. The Peacocks scored all three runs with two outs recorded. Two of the three runs went down as unearned as they scored on the Beavers' fourth error of the game that should have ended the inning.
Bemidji State prevented the shutout with one run in the bottom of the seventh courtesy of a lead-off home run by Lexi Derrick. The Beavers placed one more runner on with a double to right center, but left her there as Kisch coaxed the final two outs.
Game Two: Upper Iowa 1, Bemidji State 0 (8 innings)
The second game of the doubleheader was a hard-fought battle by both teams, especially in the circle between BSU starter Rochelle Koshalek and UIU's Thompson and Drahozal. Neither team was able to push across a run in regulation despite 15 base runners between the squads. The Peacocks eventually scored the winning run in the top of the eighth for their second shutout of the season.
Along with stellar pitching, Upper Iowa's defensive was impressive throughout the second game. The Peacocks tallied up four double plays including one in each of the second, third and fourth innings. The first came courtesy of quick reflexes by Crogan. After Derrick drew a leadoff walk to start the second, Sami Dullum lined a hard-hit ball right to the first baseman who snagged the ball and touched the bag before Derrick could return back to safety.
The second and third double plays were fueled by heads-up defense from Julia Buffington. In the bottom of third, Elaina Christiansen reached first with a single through the right side only to be ruled out on the next play when Makayla Pagel's shot to shortstop put Buffington in the perfect position to tag second and make the throw to first in time. The senior put out two more Beavers in the fourth by catching Koshalek's line drive and firing a throw to Crogan to end the inning.
Both teams were held to just a pair of hits for the rest of regulation while leaving a combined seven runners on base to send the game to extra innings.
UIU finally broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the eighth when Crogan hit a ball straight up the middle to score Frenette who got on board with a single of her own. Back-to-back outs left two more runners on for the Peacocks before any more damage could be done.
With the tying run on board, the Peacocks shut the door on the Beavers with their fourth double play of the day followed by a pop-up to shortstop to earn the win.
