The Upper Iowa University softball team secured a 9-3 win in their home and Northern Sun Conference opener against the University of Sioux Falls at the Eischeid Softball Complex. The win improved UIU to a 10-11 overall record and a 1-0 mark in NSIC action, while the loss dropped USF to 13-13 (1-4 NSIC).
The Peacocks jumped out to a 9-0 lead through four innings in game one of a scheduled doubleheader before the Cougars staved off a shortened game with three late scores. After playing through two outs in the top of the fourth inning in game two, rain forced the game into a delay. After a nearly two-hour rain delay, the game was called before meeting the required four-inning threshold to count as an official contest, meaning the individual and team statistics could not be credited.
The Peacocks opened NSIC play with an emphatic offensive output in their first at-bats at home, tacking on five runs in the bottom of the first inning and jumping out to a 9-0 lead through four frames. After sitting USF down 1-2-3 in the top of the first,
Kaylee Frenette worked a leadoff walk to set the table for UIU. A sacrifice bunt from
Sara Jessie moved Frenette all the way to third, and
Amelia Fitzgerald smacked an RBI double to put the Peacocks up 1-0 early.
Katie Crogan crushed a no-doubt home run to straightaway center field in the next at-bat, extending the lead to 3-0. In the ensuing at-bats,
Calista Brockman and
Hannah Bridgewater reached on an error and a hit-by-pitch, respectively, and
Ari Charles brought the runners home with a two-out, two-RBI single from Charles to put UIU up 5-0 through one inning.
Abby Buckman and the Upper Iowa defense stranded a pair of USF runners in the top of the second, and the Peacock offense took advantage by plating two of their own in the bottom of the inning. After all nine Peacocks came up to bat in the first frame, Frenette and Sar. Jessie reached on a walk and bunt single, respectively, forcing a USF pitching change. Fitzgerald made a loud flyout before the runners advanced on a wild pitch, and Crogan doubled her RBI total with a 2 RBI single that put UIU ahead 7-0.
The UIU defense sat USF down in order in the third, and Charles came around to score after a one-out triple thanks to a
Samantha Jessie RBI, giving Upper Iowa an 8-0 edge through three innings. The Peacocks added a ninth unanswered run in the bottom of the fourth, this time of the unearned variety as an RBI single by Brockman brought home Sar. Jessie, who reached on an error.
Needing two runs to avoid the game ending in the fifth due to run rule, Sioux Falls stayed alive thanks to a two-out home run by Lexie Swift that pulled USF within seven at 9-2. Each team stranded a pair of runners in the sixth, but the Cougars tacked on another run, 9-3, in the top of the frame after leading off with a double and an RBI single.
Rylee McGonigle came in to end the game for the Peacocks in the top of the seventh and induced three groundouts to end the inning and clinch the 9-3 win.
Buckman earned the win for Upper Iowa after allowing one earned run and three scores in 6.0 innings. The sophomore allowed seven hits and walked one, and the UIU defense recorded all 21 putouts.
The Peacocks hit .345 as a team with 10 hits in 29 at-bats, compared to a .250 mark on seven hits for the Cougars. Sar. Jessie, Fitzgerald, Crogan, and Charles each notched two hits. Crogan led the offensive output with a 2-3 (.667) clip, three RBI, one run, one home run, and one walk. Brockman and Charles tallied two RBI apiece, while Frenette and Sar. Jessie each scored twice.
Leadoff batter Lexie Swift led USF with two RBI thanks to her two-run homer, while Reese Holzhueter notched the other Cougar RBI. Hanna Cress picked up the loss after allowing six earned runs and seven total scores in one inning. Bailee Lampman allowed one earned run, six hits, and two walks with two strikeouts in 5.0 innings of work.
Up next, the Peacocks are scheduled to host Southwest Minnesota State University on Monday, Apr. 4, at 12/2 p.m. in Fayette, Iowa. UIU is then scheduled for a three-doubleheader road trip to face Wayne State College on Apr. 6, Bemidji State University on Apr. 9, and the University of Minnesota Crookston on Apr. 10.
