THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK SOFTBALL… Upper Iowa finished the regular season on a high note last Sunday with a sweep of the University of Mary on Senior Day in Fayette. The pair of wins earned the Peacocks a 15-15 conference record and the No. 8 seed in the NSIC Softball Tournament that will take place in Rochester, Minn. on May 2-4. UIU will have two games no matter what on Thursday with the first being against the No. 9 seeded Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs at 10 a.m.

WHAT'S TO FOLLOW… If the Peacocks win their first game, they will go on to face either the top-seeded Winona State University Warriors or the Augustana University Vikings who are seeded second. Those matchups will be determined based on how the other play-in game finishes between the No. 7 seeded Minot State University and No. 10 seeded University of Sioux Falls; the lowest seeded winner will challenge Winona State and the highest seeded victor will take on Augustana, both at 2 p.m. If the Peacocks were to lose their first game against SMSU, they would play again at 4 p.m. versus the loser of the University of Minnesota Duluth and Concordia University, St. Paul matchup.  

HOW THEY GOT HERE… The Peacocks started their season with an 8-7 non-conference record highlighted by win over No. 20 Arkansas Tech University to enter the conference slate above .500 for the third time in the last four seasons. Upper Iowa then opened NSIC action 3-6 before mounting a 9-game winning streak with sweeps over SMSU, Wayne State College, Bemidji State University and the University of Minnesota Crookston to bring their record to 12-6. The Peacocks faced four of the NSIC's top-five teams in their next 10 games and salvaged a split against St. Cloud State University during the stretch. In the final weekend of play, UIU went 2-2 with a sweep of UMary on Senior Day to set their final mark at 23-22 (15-15 NSIC) and secure a spot in the NSIC Softball Tournament for the first time since 2016.

KEY CONTRIBUTORS… Against Northern Sun pitching crews, the Peacocks hit .301 and slugged .422 with 62 extra-base hits and 154 RBI. Upper Iowa was led by Katie Crogan, Second Team All-NSIC member and Gold Glove honoree, who batted .412 and slugged .691 while leading the Peacocks in hits (40), home runs (7), extra-base hits (13), RBI (33), total bases (67) and on-base percentage (.467). Julia Buffington (.352), Erin Drahozal (.329) and Jenny Budds (.318) also made great impacts throughout the conference slate. Buffington finished second on the team with 32 hits including 10 of extra-base variety for a .527 slugging percentage, Drahozal slugged .544 and reached base in 24 straight games to close the slate, and Budds registered 28 of her 36 season hits during the stretch. Jordyn Brennan hit just .284 overall but slugged .505 with three home runs and team-high doubles (8) and triples (2) to match Crogan with 13 extra-base hits.  

SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS… Southwest Minnesota State (18-24, 13-17) earned the No. 9 seed in the NSIC Tournament with a tie-breaker over Sioux Falls for their fifth straight conference tournament appearance. The Mustangs concluded the regular season going 1-3 in a weekend road series, splitting with Minnesota Duluth and getting swept by St. Cloud State. Bailey Johnson leads SMSU at the plate with a .408 batting average and a team-high 49 hits including 13 doubles, four triples and four home runs. In the circle, Athena Golling leads the Mustangs with an 11-11 record and a 2.72 ERA with a team-high 97 strikeouts. SMSU is hitting .275 as a team with 301 hits, 164 runs scored, 149 RBI, 40 doubles, 11 triples and 20 homeruns.

LAST AT BAT… The Peacocks earned their first conference sweep of the season against the SMSU Mustangs earlier this year to move ahead 17-15 in the all-time series. Upper Iowa earned a 9-1 run-rule victory in game one before celebrating a dramatic finish in game two where the Peacocks won 13-9 in extra innings thanks to a walk-off grand slam by sophomore Katie Crogan. As a team, the Peacocks hit .429 while racking up 22 runs on 27 hits. Crogan and Drahozal were the key players in the victories as Crogan batted .625 and slugged 1.375 on the day with five hits, seven RBI and three runs scored, while Drahozal hit .500 with three hits, two runs scored and an RBI at the plate to go with a 1.50 ERA in the circle. Both Crogan and Drahozal engineered crucial home runs in the nightcap to keep Upper Iowa in the game prior to the walk-off grand slam.

FOLLOW ALONG… Live stats for UIU's first game will be provided by Winona State through the link above. There will also be a live video option pending weather. For more information, please visit the tournament site on the Northern Sun website through the link provided.