The Upper Iowa University softball team's 2022 season came to a close on day two of the NSIC Tournament against the University of Sioux Falls. The Peacocks fell 8-1 as the Cougars benefitted from six unearned runs, including five in the second inning. UIU ends the year with a 24-28 record and finished seventh in the NSIC with a 14-15 mark.
 
Sioux Falls held a narrow 10-8 advantage in hits, but USF converted eight runs (two earned) compared to one for UIU, thanks in part to three Peacock errors. Sophia Heckendorf and Sydney Wilcox each hit 2-3. Sara Jessie was 1-3 with a run, while Katie Crogan was 1-3 with a clutch RBI that pulled the Peacocks back from the brink of an early-inning exit.
 
Sydney Wilcox (12-16) took the loss after allowing seven runs (two earned) on seven hits and a walk in two innings. Rylee McGonigle allowed an unearned run on three hits and two walks in five innings of relief. The freshman also struck out three batters.
 
Kait Van Der Zwaag did it all for USF, earning a win in the circle and doing damage at the plate. Van Der Zwaag (8-6) pitched a complete game, allowing one run on eight hits and a walk with one strikeout. She also hit 2-3 with two runs and four RBI thanks to a two-RBI home run and a two-RBI double in her first two at-bats. 
 
The Cougars claimed an early edge in the top of the first after a leadoff bunt single followed by a one-out, two-run home run from Kait Van Der Zwaag. Kaylee Frenette worked a leadoff walk for UIU but was left on second.
 
USF put the first two batters in the second on base after catcher's interference and a fielding error. The Peacocks got the inning's second out by throwing a runner out at home plate, but an RBI single and a two-RBI double from Van Der Zwaag in the next two at-bats put Sioux Falls ahead 5-0. Back-to-back-to-back singles made it five straight hits for the Cougars while making it a 7-0 ball game on five unearned runs before UIU got out of the inning and stranded two runners.
 
Sophia Heckendorf and Sydney Wilcox notched consecutive two-out singles in the bottom of the second, but the Peacock pair was left on base.
 
After Rylee McGonigle stranded a leadoff single in her first inning of relief in the third, Sioux Falls added a sixth straight unearned run to their lead in the fourth. USF loaded the bases after a walk, a single, and a hit-by-pitch before a fielding error allowed a runner to score, but the Peacocks avoided further damage and left the bases loaded to keep their deficit at 8-0.
 
Calista Brockman and Heckendorf singled in the bottom of the fourth, but another Upper Iowa duo was stuck on the bases before the end of the inning. Sara Jessie hit a two-out infield single to keep the Peacocks alive in the bottom of the fifth, and Amelia Fitzgerald kept the rally going with a single that put runners on the corners. The Peacocks were down to their final strike of the season with Katie Crogan at the plate, but the NSIC Player of the Year scorched an RBI single through the left side of the infield to cut UIU's deficit to 8-1 and keep the game from ending early due to run rule.
 
McGonigle sat the Cougars down in order in the top of the sixth before UIU left a runner on base in the bottom of the inning, but the Peacocks returned the favor to strand a leadoff single from USF in the seventh. The top of the Upper Iowa order went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh to clinch an 8-1 win for Sioux Falls and bring Upper Iowa's strong season to an end.