THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCKS BASEBALL… Upper Iowa will host their first series of the 2020 season at Prospect Meadows in Marion, Iowa due to field conditions in Fayette. UIU will face the University of Wisconsin-Parkside for a pair doubleheaders on Saturday, March 7 and Sunday, March 8. Both twin bills are set for a 12 p.m. first pitch for game one followed by a 2 p.m. start for game two. The 12 p.m. meetings in the four-game set will be seven-inning affairs while the 2 p.m. starts are set for nine innings. Live stats for all four games can be found at UIUPeacocks.com/LIVE.
RECAPPING ROLLA… The Peacocks suffered a four-game skid on the road against Missouri University of Science and Technology over the weekend extending their losing streak to seven games. Upper Iowa claimed an early lead in the first three contests but the Peacocks struggled to produce runs in the middle innings. On Saturday, the Peacocks fell 7-2 in game one before coming up short 13-7 in the encore. On Sunday, Upper Iowa suffered a slim 7-6 defeat before falling 11-5 in the final game of the series. Highlights included Conner Klostermann hitting a pair of home runs over the weekend, Blake Thiesse striking out seven Miners in game two and Jason Katz giving up just one unearned run in three innings of relief to end game three.
JACK OF ALL TRADES… Jack Thode earned a spot on the NSIC week four top performers list. Thode went 3-7 (.428) on the weekend with a double and a home run. Thode also registered four RBI and scored twice all while not committing an error during his two starts in left field.
"KLOBBER"-MAN… Klostermann clobbered his third and fourth home runs of the season over the weekend. Klostermann's four home runs, all of which have been solo shots, rank second in the NSIC while his 0.760 slugging percentage is the league's third-best rate. Klostermann is currently batting .240, five of his six hits on the year have gone for extra bases.
LACE 'EM UP… Colin Lacey has struck out 12 in two starts this season. Lacey has held opposing batters to just a .229 rate at the plate. Five of his strikeouts came in Saturday morning's loss to Missouri S&T. Lacey will hope to lower the Peacocks' 10.62 cumulative ERA as the season continues.
GREAT RATES… As a team, Upper Iowa is batting .308 with the bases loaded, .322 with runners on base, .338 in the leadoff spot and a whopping .375 with runners in scoring position. Ryan Hull leads the Peacocks on the defensive side of the ball with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage on 15 attempts. The UIU pitching staff has tossed 9.25 strikeouts per game while the Peacock lineup has gone down on strikes just 8.86 times per contest.
SCOUTING THE RANGERS… Wisconsin-Parkside is 0-3 on the year. The Rangers opened the season against Drury University and suffered a three-game sweep. Garrett LaBreche led the Wisconsin-Parkside lineup over the weekend as he went 4-13 accumulating a .308 batting average. The Miners' bullpen is bolstered by Jake Macaluso and Mikey Lenher, the duo has combined for four strikeouts and just one earned run in 6.2 innings of work. The Wisconsin-Parkside starters however, all have posted ERAs of 9.00 or higher. The Rangers batted .196 in their opening series while the Drury Panthers held a .361 average against the Parkside pitching staff.
