This Week in Peacock Baseball… The Upper Iowa baseball team will wrap up their regular season this week with a midweek double header and close out their season with a three-game series over the weekend. The Peacocks doubleheader against the Wildcats has been moved to Thursday and will be played in Wayne, Nebraska due to weather here in Fayette. First pitch against the Wildcats is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Following their games against WSC, Upper Iowa will head to South Dakota for a three-game series against the #25 Augustana University Vikings, with two games being played on Friday starting at 1:30 and Saturday's game slated for a 12 p.m. start.
Going Out On a High Note… Peacock seniors
Zac Cain and
Tony Salato are wrapping up their final season with the Peacocks this week and they are doing so in style with their best seasons to date. Salato has raised his batting average nearly 50 points from .297 last year to .341, his OBP from .395 to .411, and his slugging has improved more than 100 points from .362 to .470. Upper Iowa's left fielder
Zac Cain is having his best season since his freshman year when he hit .360/.389/.440. During his senior campaign, Cain has improved those numbers to .367/.408/.489.
In the On Deck Circle… Three Upper Iowa juniors will be handed the torch to lead the Peacocks on the diamond next season:
Riley Braughton,
AJ Friedrich, and
Duncan Snider. Offensively, Friedrich is one of UIU's most reliable bats as he is among the team leaders in batting average (.360), slugging (.488), and leads the Peacocks in RBIs (27). Snider has been Upper Iowa's ace this season, leading the Peacock starters in wins (3), ERA (2.26), strikeouts (65), WHIP (1.34), and innings pitched (51.2). Junior shortstop,
Riley Braughton, will look to make a splash again next year after finding success at the plate this season. Braughton has improved at the plate year after year, raising his average to .339 this season, has driven in a career high 17 runs, and is tied for third on the team with four stolen bases.
Scouting the Opponents…
About the Wildcats… Wayne State has posted a 31-15 record so far this season and have gone 22-11 in NSIC contests. The Wildcats have benefitted all season from strong pitching from freshman right-hander Ryan Obrecht. The Omaha, Nebraska native is coming off a one-hit shutout victory over the CSP Golden Bears last week, earning the NSIC's Pitcher of the Week award. Obrecht's 1.09 ERA this season leads all pitchers in the Northern Sun and is good enough to rank second in all of Division II. Offensively, the Wildcat lineup features three players who are hitting above .300 and slugging at least .500: Kyle Thompson (.362/.583), Alex Logelin (.312/.529), and Bryce Bisenius (.307/.528).
The Peacocks and Wildcats split their doubleheader last year but Wayne State leads the all-time series against Upper Iowa 15-5.
About the Vikings… Augustana has continued to receive national recognition as the Vikings remain in the top-25 teams at the Division II level. Like the Wildcats, the Vikings have an ace up their sleeve in Max Steffens who has been a perfect 7-0 this season for Augustana. The junior from Dewitt, Iowa has recorded a 1.65 ERA over his 76.1 innings and a WHIP of 0.83 which is the fourth best in Division II. From the plate, the Vikings are led by a pair of sophomores in JT Mix (.375) and Will Olson (.333) and their junior teammate (.397).
Historically, the Vikings have been able to find success against the Peacocks, posting a 16-2 record against Upper Iowa. The Peacocks have found success recently against Augustana with their only two wins against the Vikings coming over the last five games.
