Upper Iowa and Wayne State locked up for their final game of the 2022 baseball season at Robertson Woods Field in Fayette on Saturday. The Wildcats escaped with a 7-4 win fueled by a five-run fourth inning to improve to 19-26 overall and 13-18 in the conference. Upper Iowa finished the year with a 12-31 record and a 10-22 mark in the NSIC.
 
Wayne State scored a pair of runs in the top of the first inning on just one hit; the Wildcats were aided by a pair of walks and two hit batters.
 
In the third inning, Upper Iowa was able to cut the lead in half after a leadoff, infield single by Ethan Sawyer. A throwing error on a pickoff attempt allowed Sawyer to get to third and a wild pitch opened the plate for the UIU freshman.
 
The Wildcats pushed their lead from one to six, 7-1, with five runs in the fourth inning. Five hits fueled the outburst for the visitors highlighted by a two-run home run by Andrew Hanson and an RBI-double by Conner Fiene.
 
Casey Zarr doubled with one out in the bottom of the fourth and moved to third on a single through the left side by Sage Stellmacher. Nicolas Vite singled on the infield to plate Zarr and give the home team runners at second and third with one out. Both runners stole bases and moved into scoring position to allow Stellmacher to come home on a sacrifice fly by Sawyer. WSC was able to escape the inning with a final strikeout to maintain a 7-3 advantage.
 
UIU left runners at first and third in the fourth inning, third base in the fifth and the bases loaded in the sixth as their attempts to rally came up shy.
 
In the seventh, a pair of walks around a wild pitch gave the Peacocks runners on the corners with no outs. UIU was able to score one run, but it came on a ground ball double play that cleared the bases. The run cut the lead to three runs, 7-4, as the game moved to the eighth inning. UIU came up empty in the ninth and fell in the final game of the season.
 
Josh Renken (4-0) picked up the win in relief with two innings of scoreless work on the hill. Nick Oden got a save with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
 
Grant Ver Voort (0-5) took the loss for UIU. Jarrett Ramer and Braden Albert threw four and one innings, respectively, of scoreless relief to keep the Peacocks in the game. Ramer allowed just one hit in his four innings.
 
Upper Iowa closed the season in 13th place in the Northern Sun with a 10-22 mark in conference games. The Peacocks were 4-13 on the year in games decided by two runs or less including a 1-7 mark in two-run contests.