THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK BASEBALL… Upper Iowa plays its final two road games of the regular season this week as the Peacocks will take on the Wayne State College Wildcats on Wednesday, Apr. 28 for a doubleheader. The road twin bill features 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. starts. Fans can follow along via live stats and a webcast produced by WSC at UIUPeacocks.com/LIVE. UIU will then close out the regular season with a three-game series at home versus No. 20 Augustana University. The series starts with a doubleheader on Friday, May 7 with first pitches set for 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. The Peacocks follow up by hosting the Vikings for a single nine-inning game on Saturday, May 8 at 1:30 p.m. An audio broadcast and live stats for the home series can be found at UIUPeacocks.com/LIVE while digital gameday programs can be accessed at UIUPeacocks.com/PROGRAMS.
WAVING GOODBYE TO WINONA… Upper Iowa fell in both sets of its doubleheader at Winona State University last Wednesday. The Peacocks dropped a seven-inning pitcher's duel 2-0 to begin the day. The Warriors then followed up with a commanding 8-1 victory in their home park. Jake Hilmer provided the lone run of the day for UIU after he, Samuel Grushkin, and Hogan Penny singled consecutively to produce the run.
SENIOR SENDOFF... Upper Iowa baseball will celebrate its seniors between games on Friday, May 7. UIU will honor 13 Peacocks who are set to graduate Saturday as well as a trio of players from the 2020 campaign who will return to Fayette to participate. Hogan Penny, Nolan Friedrichs, Joshua Fischer, Arturo Archuleta, Jason Katz, Kyle Routhieaux, Adrian Trujillo, SJ Mousseau, Duncan Snider, Chris Harsh, Kiley Brown, Logan DeWulf, and Chris Webber are the current Peacocks set to be honored Friday afternoon while Cody Ryan, Parker Kray, and John Magnuson will return to Fayette and rejoin their former teammates to take part in the event.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR… The Peacocks have a handful of players who could potentially lead the league in a variety of categories headed into the final week of regular season play. Grushkin's 10 doubles are just three away from the NSIC lead with five games to go. Kyle Routhieaux has been hit by 10 pitches this season as he currently sits in second place, just one free pass away from claiming the top spot in the conference. Noah Gyldenvand has the highest total of sacrifice bunts in the NSIC at five, the Peacock shortstop could solidify his position should UIU play small ball this weekend.
Moving to other areas of the diamond, Duncan Snider's 53.1 innings on the bump is third best in the league and 2.2 innings out of first place. Routhieaux and Hilmer lead the conference in fielding percentage as each could claim to be the NSIC's top glove barring any errors this week. Gyldenvand sits four double plays away from the league-lead as his 11 is the fourth-highest total in the conference.
WHAT'S NEW WILDCATS?... Wayne State sits at 11-21 on the season, 10-18 in conference. WSC recently snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 7-1 win over No. 20 Augustana. Four Wildcats (Alex Logelin, Bryce Bisenius, Peyton Barnes, and CJ Newmann) are batting over .300 with at least 15 runs scored, 32 hits collected, and 19 runs driven home. No Wildcat who's pitched more than one inning possesses an ERA below 5.40. As a team, WSC has a cumulative ERA of 8.14 while their opponents have allowed a 5.94 rate.
ADDRESSING AUGUSTANA… Augustana has an NSIC third-best record of 28-9 overall, 24-9 in NSIC play. The Vikings have won five of their last six including a pair of victories over the NSIC's top team, Minnesota State University, Mankato. The Vikings have an impressive lineup with six bats batting .300 plus. Carter Howell's 44 runs scored, 26 stolen bases, and 58 hits are the league-high as is Will Olson's .780 slugging percentage and 12 home runs. Defensively, Olson leads the conference at 301 chances without committing a single error. Sam Baier possesses some power as well having homered seven times in a two-game rout of Bemidji State University. On the other side of the diamond, AU is just as dangerous. Six out of the eight Vikings who've started a game for Augie hold an ERA lower than 3.63. Tanner Brown is the ace of the rotation having notched a 4-0 record and a perfect game in eight appearances. As a unit, Augustana is batting nearly 100 points higher than its opponents (.321-.232).
