THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK SOFTBALL… Upper Iowa softball opens its postseason push at the 2022 NSIC Tournament on Thursday, May 5. The No. 7-seeded Peacocks will play the No. 10-seeded Wayne State College Wildcats at 10 a.m. on Field B of the RYFSA Complex in Rochester, Minn. Win or lose, UIU will play a second time on May 5 as part of the double-elimination tournament.

FOLLOWING THE ACTION... Live stats and webcasts for all games will be available through the links at UIUPeacocks.com/Live and included with this story. The games will also stream live on the new NSIC Network app through Roku and Fire devices and Apple and Android TV. Search for "NSIC Network" to find the app on your relevant device. Additionally, The @UIU_Softball Twitter account will have gameday updates before, during, and after the games as the team will be live-tweeting the action.

FANS IN THE STANDS… Fans can make their way to Rochester, Minn. to root on the Peacocks in person. Day and tournament passes will be available for purchase at the main gate of the complex. Tickets can be purchased with CASH only. A Tournament Pass is $35, a Single Day Ticket is $20 for adults and $10 for students, and children under five years of age are free. Spectator entrance into the complex will be permitted no earlier than 1 hour before the first scheduled games of the day.  All spectators will enter the complex through the main entrance. Spectators are NOT allowed to bring coolers into the RYFSA Complex. Concessions will be available and will be CASH only. Bleacher seating will be available at each field. Spectators are encouraged to bring lawn chairs to provide additional seating outside the outfield and along the left and right field lines.

LAST TIME IN PEACOCK SOFTBALL… The Peacocks closed their season with an eight-game road trip, going 3-5 to finish the 2022 campaign with a 23-16 (14-15 NSIC) record. UIU split a doubleheader against Concordia University, St. Paul on Apr. 26, falling 11-6 before a 5-3 win. Upper Iowa then suffered a sweep against Winona State University on Apr. 28, losing 2-0 and 6-5. On May 1, the Peacocks won 14-3 in five innings over Minnesota State University Moorhead before falling 5-3. On May 2, UIU lost 7-4 to Northern State University before ending the regular season with a 5-3 win in eight innings.

QUEEN OF THE HILL… Katie Crogan crushed the Upper Iowa record books with a career year. She rewrote many single-season marks while also moving up on many of the all-time rankings for a Peacock career. The Watertown, Wis. native finished 2022 with a .473 batting average, .913 slugging percentage, .550 on-base percentage, 49 runs, 71 hits, 15 doubles, 17 home runs, 75 RBI, and 23 walks. Crogan set the single-season record for batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, hits, home runs, and RBI. She also finished with the second-most runs in a season and the third-most doubles and walks. The fifth-year player holds the record for hits (251), doubles (54), home runs (45), runs scored (140), and runs batted in (202) in a Peacock career. With at least two games to go, Crogan can continue her climb.

RECORD-SETTING SEASON… This season, the Peacocks have compiled a record-setting offensive output, propelling the team to its first postseason berth since 2019. In addition to Crogan's accomplishments, a handful of Peacocks will have their names etched in the record books. Amelia Fitzgerald has 70 hits through the regular season, which broke the record of 69 held by Jacqueline Flood (2015) at the start of the season. If it were not for Crogan's 71 hits, Fitzgerald would be alone at the top after her freshman season. The Crystal Lake, Ill. native has tallied 181 at-bats and 48 RBI thus far, with each being the third-most in a single season in UIU history. Fitzgerald is also tied for the seventh-most runs (38) and the 16th-most doubles (11) and home runs (6). Sara Jessie and Kaylee Frenette have 56 hits apiece, good for 14th-most all-time. Jessie paced a Peacock offense that finished second in the NSIC in scoring at 310 runs (6.33/game) as she was second in the conference with 57 runs. The individual single-season runs total broke the previous high-water mark of 44 held by Flood (2015), and Jessie (56), Crogan (49), and Frenette (46) all surpassed the previous best. Frenette drew 24 walks to tie the all-time UIU record set by Hannah Jones in 2010. Calista Brockman finished with 41 RBI, good for the fifth-most all time, and her ten doubles crack the record books too. In the circle, Sydney Wilcox tied for the 10th-most wins (11) in a season, the 12th-most appearances (29), and the fourth-most starts (28). Wilcox also has the eighth-most complete games (21) and innings pitched (164.2) in a season. The Peacocks have a minimum of two games remaining to add to their impressive season's statistics.

WHAT'S UP WITH THE WILDCATS… Wayne State finished the season with a record of 15-36 (12-18 NSIC). The Wildcats hit .280 with 375 hits, 221 runs (4.33/game), 192 RBI, 57 doubles, five triples, and 16 home runs. Kim Vidlak led the team in average (.388), slugging (.599), on-base percentage (.445), and doubles (15) while ranking second in hits (57), homers (4), and RBI (40). WSC pitchers combined for a 6.51 ERA and 218 strikeouts while allowing a .321 opponent batting average. Callie Carraher (4-5) led the team with a 5.30 ERA with 67 K's in 74 innings, while Samantha Felt (8-10) pitched a team-high 105.2 innings with a 5.37 ERA and 35 K's.

The Peacocks split their season series against the Wildcats, winning 8-5 in game one before falling 7-3 in game two in a road doubleheader on Apr. 6. Upper Iowa bookended game one with three runs in the first and four runs in the seventh. The duo of Crogan and Brockman combined for five of the seven UIU hits, four of six RBI, and half of the team's eight runs. Crogan was 3-4 with three runs, two RBI, and two doubles, while Brockman was 2-2 with two RBI, two walks, a run, and a double. Sydney Wilcox got the win in the circle. In game two, UIU led 2-1 through the top of the sixth, but WSC scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth (five unearned) and won the game.

LOOKING AHEAD… If the Peacocks win their tournament-opening game against Wayne State, they will face No. 14 Minnesota State University, Mankato, the No. 2 seed, at 2 p.m. on Thursday, May 5. UIU went 0-2 against the nationally-ranked Mavericks on Apr. 12, falling 8-1 and 12-11 (8 Inn.) in Fayette. If Upper Iowa drops their game against WSU, they will play either No. 4-seed St. Cloud State University or the No. 5-seeded University of Minnesota Duluth at 4 p.m. on May 5. The Peacocks were 0-2 against SCSU with losses of 11-6 and 14-13 at home while going 1-1 against UMD with a 10-1 (5 Inn.) loss and a 14-6 (6 Inn.) win at the Eischeid Softball Complex.