The Peacock baseball team came up on the short end of a pair of Northern Sun Conference games at St. Cloud State University on Tuesday. St. Cloud State edged out Upper Iowa 3-2 in extra innings of game one and then grabbed a 6-2 decision in the second game. After the two losses, UIU falls to 8-21 overall and 6-12 in the conference, while SCSU improved to 20-10 and 12-4 in the NSIC.
 
Upper Iowa scored the first two runs of the game in the third inning thanks to four hits and a Husky error, but the Peacocks had a chance for more. Tanner Stein opened the inning with a single to right and moved to third when the Huskies mishandled a bunt by Cael Luzum. Jerry Garcia hit a sacrifice fly to plate Stein. With two outs, Nicolas Vite hit a bunt single to put runners on the corners for UIU. Jake Hilmer followed with an infield single that scored Luzum and kept the inning alive. Ethan Sawyer came up and knocked a single out to left field, but the Peacocks were cut down at the plate trying to add a third run.
 
Unfortunately for the visitors, the four hits in the third inning accounted for all but one of their hits in the extra-inning affair.
 
St. Cloud State tied the game with two runs in the fifth inning with one hit after taking advantage of two Peacock errors, three stolen bases and a wild pitch.
 
The score remained knotted at 2-2 through the seventh inning pushing the game into extra innings. In the bottom of the eighth, the Huskies put a pair of singles together around a stolen base with one to score the winning run. Ethan Navratti delivered the winning run to the plate with a walk off single down the right field line.
 
Colin Lacey took the no-decision after five innings with his start; he allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits with three strikeouts. Sam Marhefke (1-1) suffered the loss with 2.1 innings of relief giving up the winning run on three hits with two strikeouts.
 
Jack Habeck (3-0) got the win in relief going five innings and allowing just one hit after replacing starter Sam Riola, who went three innings and gave up two runs on four hits.
 
St. Cloud State scored first in the second game in the first inning, but Upper Iowa was able to tie the score in the third and then take a lead in the fourth frame. Trailing 1-0, the Peacocks loaded the bases with one out in the third after singles by Luzum and Ryan Hull and a walk by Vite. Hilmer drove in a run with a ground ball, but SCSU was able to stifle the threat and escape still tied. In the fourth, Samuel Grushkin tripled to left and came home on a single through the left side by Garcia.
 
UIU held their lead until the bottom of the fifth when the Huskies loaded the bases and scored a run with one out on four straight walks by two difference Peacock pitchers. A sacrifice fly allowed a second run to score as St. Cloud State retook the lead, 3-2, without a hit. SCSU added three more runs in the sixth inning with three hits including back-to-back, run-scoring doubles.
 
In the seventh inning, the Peacocks did load the bases with two outs, but a ground ball up the middle was taken for a force out to end the rally and secure the 6-2 win for the home team.
 
Owen Anderson (1-0) scored the win for SCSU with an inning of relief, while Eli Emerson got the save with two innings of relief.
 
Keaton Parker (1-6) suffered the loss as one of six Peacock pitchers to toe the rubber; he allowed two runs in the fifth.
 
The Peacocks will not return to the diamond for games until next Wednesday, Apr. 20. Upper Iowa will host the University of Sioux Falls at Robertson Woods Field in Fayette beginning at 1:30 p.m.