A day after UIU left 21 on base in a pair of close losses, the Peacocks left no doubt on Tuesday scoring a 16-6, 8-inning victory in the Northern Sun Conference series finale with Northern State University. The win improved UIU's record to 3-14 overall and 1-5 in the conference, while NSU dropped to 8-10 overall and 3-2 in the NSIC.
Upper Iowa tallied 14 hits and were eight hit batsmen on the afternoon to put 22 runners on base and two more Peacocks reached by error. The home team converted the 24 runners into 16 runs on 16 runs batted in.
Ryan Hull led the way with 5 RBI highlighted by a double and a game-ending home run.
Cael Luzum drove in four with three hits, while
Samuel Grushkin plated three Peacocks.
Kainoa Torres joined Luzum with three hits in the game, while
Jerry Garcia, Hull and
Tanner Stein all had two hits apiece.
Peacock starter
Colin Lacey (2-2) threw five innings allowing three unearned runs on just one hit and a pair of walks while striking out seven Wolves. The win is a big one for Lacey due to which team it came against. Three years ago, during Lacey's sophomore season he was pitching a great game against Northern State when a line drive back through the box hit the southpaw in the head and ended his season.
Reliever
Sam Marhefke picked up his first save with three innings of work allowing three runs on four hits while striking out a pair of Wolves.
After loading the bases with no outs in the third inning and failing to score, the Peacocks gave it another shot in the fourth. A pair of singles and a hit batter filled the base paths for Grushkin. The Peacock third baseman delivered one run home on a ground ball and reached on an error committed on the play. After an infield fly,
Jerry Garcia singled to drive in a run and then UIU added two more on another fielding error on the infield and a groundout to take a 4-0 lead.
Upper Iowa allowed Northern State to rally in the top of the fifth scoring three runs without a hit thanks to a walk, four wild pitches and four errors. Lacey was able to find just enough to get through the inning recording all three outs on strikeouts between all the miscues.
The Peacocks did not let the momentum go and loaded the bases with no outs for the third straight inning in the fifth thanks to a hit batter, an infield single and a bunt single. Grushkin hit a RBI-ground out and
Cael Luzum followed with a single to the hole on the left side to put UIU ahead 6-3. Another hit batter reloaded the bases and
Ryan Hull delivered with a double inside the bag at third to score two. Nicholas Vite closed out the scoring with a RBI-ground ball to push the lead to 9-3 after five innings.
In the sixth inning, Upper Iowa added a run after singles by
Kainoa Torres and
Tanner Stein, along with heads up baserunning, set up runners on second and third with one out. Grushkin picked up his third run batted in with a sacrifice fly to left to plate Torres.
Northern State slimmed the margin to 10-6 in the top of the eighth with three runs on four hits including three doubles. Karson Hesser, Reece Ragatz, and Alex Gauer all doubled during the Wolves' big inning.
With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Northern State put three Peacocks on the bases with three hit batters in the first four plate appearances of the frame. Luzum made the Wolves pay with a bases clearing double to the gap in left center.
Jerry Garcia followed with a double to left centerfield to send Luzum home and then scored when
Ryan Hull ended the game, due to the NSIC run-rule, with a home run over the left field fence to put the Peacocks ahead 16-6.
Upper Iowa is scheduled to play the Golden Eagles of the University of Minnesota Crookston on Wednesday, Mar. 30 in a NSIC-double header beginning at 1:30 p.m.
