THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCKS BASEBALL… Upper Iowa will play its final pair of non-conference opponent and kick off their Northern Sun Conference schedule this week. The Peacocks will face Rockhurst University on Wednesday, Mar. 11 for a double header beginning at 1 p.m. in Kansas City, Mo. UIU will then open its conference slate with a doubleheader against Southwest Minnesota State University starting at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Mar. 14 at Robertson Woods Field in Fayette. The Peacocks and Mustangs will return to the diamond on Sunday for a single, nine-inning game to close out their first NSIC home series at 12 p.m. on Sunday, Mar. 15. Live stats for all five contests will be available at UIUPeacocks.com/LIVE.
RANGER DANGER… Upper Iowa fell in four straight games to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside over the weekend pushing their losing streak to 11 games. The Rangers gained a lead in the top of the first inning in all four games. On Saturday, the Peacocks dropped game one 13-5 before falling short 5-2 in the second act. On Sunday, UIU fell 14-3 in game one before being overpowered 10-6 in the final game of the series. The second game on Sunday was closely contested. The score was knotted at 6-6 through seven innings, but Parkside pulled away with four unanswered runs in the final two frames. Seven Peacocks combined for ten home runs throughout the series: Noah Gyldenvand (2), AJ Friedrich (2), Jack Thode (2), Jake Dale, Jake Hilmer, Conner Klostermann, and John Magnuson.
DUAL THREAT… Hilmer earned a spot on the NSIC top performers list for his performance on the hill on Saturday and at the plate on Sunday. Hilmer struck out 11 Rangers in 7.1 innings on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, while playing left field he scored twice, drove in two runs and went 2-4 at the plate with a double and a home run.
TOP PEACOCKS… Conner Klostermann's fifth home run over the weekend keeps him in first place in the NSIC while his .757 slugging percentage is the league's fourth-best rate. Grant Ver Voort pitched 2.1 scoreless innings over two relief appearances. Ver Voort allowed zero hits and struck out four over the weekend. Upper Iowa has batted .305 with runners on base, .308 with the bases loaded and .333 with runners in scoring position through 12 games this season.
SCOUTING THE HAWKS… The Hawks hold an 8-7 record on the year and a 2-2 rate against NSIC members. Rockhurst dropped a series 2-1 against Bemidji State University before picking up a win over the University of Minnesota Crookston in the Russmat Central Florida Invitational. The Hawks most recently faced Missouri University of Science and Technology where they fell two games to one. Conner Ellefson, Tommy Kraus, Nathan Mark, and Nic Mertes are staples in the Hawks lineup. All four have registered a batting average over .300, 15+ hits and 10+ RBI on the season. Jack Eisenbarger is Rockhurst's ace, Eisenbarger has posted an ERA of 3.63, struck out 27 and picked up a pair of wins over 22.1 innings of work in four starts this season. The Hawks have stolen just eight bags on 13 attempts this year while their opponents have tallied 30 steals on 38 tries.
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS… SMSU is 4-5 on the year. The Mustangs split a pair of non-conference two-game series against NSIC-members. SMSU went 1-1 against the University of Minnesota Duluth and Concordia University, St. Paul earlier this season. Kip Gronholz leads the Mustangs with an NSIC-best .500 batting average and a team-high 14 hits while Nathan Kuhn has registered a .324 rate at the plate and 11 hits, four of which were for extra bases. John Bezdicek and Jeremiah Van DeSteeg lead the SMSU rotation, the duo has combined to strike out 41 opposing batters in 30.1 innings of work over five starts while posting ERAs of 2.00 and 2.92 respectively. The Mustangs have been outscored by their opponents 55-40 this season.
