Upper Iowa dropped a pair of non-conference baseball games at Purdue University-Northwest in Hammond, Ind. on Sunday by scores of 14-10 and 12-7. The Pride took advantage of four big innings in which they scored six runs three times and five runs once; PNW notched 23 of their 26 runs in just four innings. UIU falls to 2-8 on the year, while PNW improved to 8-1.
After the Pride jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and chased UIU's starter after just one out, the Peacocks answered with eight runs on six hits highlighted by an rbi-single from
Samuel Grushkin, a two-run double by
Noah Gyldenvand, an infield single by
Ryan Hull that scored a run, an
Ethan Sawyer triple with the bases loaded, and an
Evan Kerlin single that scored Sawyer to give UIU an 8-6 lead.
Nicolas Vite made it 10-6 with a two-run home run to right centerfield with no one out in the fourth.
The four-run margin held until the bottom of the fifth inning when PNW cut the gap in half with a two-run blast of their own. In the sixth, the Pride scored six runs on four hits including a grand slam that broke a 10-10 tie and gave the home team control.
UIU put runners on the corners in the seventh inning, but couldn't get a rally started.
Hull and Gyldenvand led the Peacocks at the plate with two hits apiece in the opener. Jarett Ramer suffered the loss in his inning of work in the seventh. The righty allowed four runs on four hits.
Sam Marhefke threw 4.2 innings in relief allowing three runs on four hits while striking out three batters.
In the second game, Kai Torres tripled to drive in a run in the second and the Peacocks added two more in the third when Sawyer and Gyldenvand walked with the bases loaded to push UIU's lead to 3-0.
The Pride stormed back into the lead with five runs on just two hits; PNW took advantage of three Peacock errors on the infield to take the two-run lead.
Upper Iowa scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning when Gyldenvand drove in a run with a ground out and
Jerry Garcia pushed a second run across the plate on a ground ball.
Purdue-Northwest put the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth scoring six runs on six hits including a two-run triple.
The Peacocks scratched two more runs on the scoreboard in the ninth inning thanks to a Vite RBI-single and a run-scoring double off Sawyer's bat.
Keaton Parker took the loss in the second game after throwing six innings allowing five runs, none of which were earned, and striking out four Pride batters
Upper Iowa is scheduled to host the University of Minnesota Duluth on Saturday and Sunday, Mar. 19-20 in a four-game series with the first three games counting in the NSIC standings.
