The Peacock baseball team lost a pair of games to No. 25 Augustana University on Friday in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Vikings, who are the reigning NCAA Division II Champions, shutout the Peacocks in both Northern Sun Conference games, 6-0 and 13-0. After the losses, UIU falls to 12-27 overall and 9-25 in the NSIC, while Augie improved to 35-14 overall and 28-6 in the conference.  

In the opener, the Vikings jumped out to an early 4-0 lead thanks to three hits and a Peacock error in the first inning. UIU starter Duncan Snider settled down after the long first inning and only allowed two more runs on just four hits over the next five innings. Snider (3-5) took the loss, but struck out three Vikings while notching his third complete game of the season.  

Max Steffens improved to 8-0 for the Vikings on the year with a complete game shutout of UIU. Steffens allowed just four hits, all singles, in his seven innings while striking out six Peacocks.  

In game two, the nationally-ranked Vikings got to freshman starter Blake Thiesse quickly with two runs in the first and second innings and five more in the third to chase the young righthander. Thiesse gave up the nine runs, seven earned, in 2.1 innings on five hits, five walks and a hit batter. Augustana added a run in the fourth and three more in the sixth to close out the game early due to the NSIC 10-run rule.  

While the Augustana offense put together an impressive game in run production, southpaw starter Tanner Brown moved his record to 5-1 with five innings pitched giving up just one hit and striking out four batters in his time on the hill. A pair of relievers cleaned up the sixth and seventh innings to preserve the shutout for the home team.

On the day, the Peacocks had seven players register a hit including their only extra base hit by Emmett Kulick with a double.

Upper Iowa and Augustana will get together on Saturday for a single, nine-inning game to end the regular season. First pitch for the final game is scheduled for 12 p.m.