THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK BASEBALL… Upper Iowa (12-21, 8-14 NSIC) will host the Golden Bears of Concordia University, St. Paul (15-16, 11-7 NSIC) a day earlier than scheduled due to forecasted weather in northeast Iowa on Wednesday. UIU and CSP will get together at Robertson Woods Field in Fayette on Tuesday, Apr. 18 for a Northern Sun Conference double header beginning at 1:30 p.m. The Peacocks will then head west to face the Vikings of Augustana University (29-14, 18-5 NSIC) in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 22-23 in a three-game conference series.
LIVE OPTIONS... Both live stats and live video are available for all five games this week. Fans can access the live options through the links above or by going to
UIUPeacocks.com/Live on game day. Digital gameday programs will also be available for the home games versus Concordia-St. Paul at
UIUPeacocks.com/Programs. Fans can also stream all the games through the NSIC Network app on their favorite streaming devices.
THE THIN LINE BETWEEN… Upper Iowa has dropped 12 of their last 15 conference games after a five-game win streak that included wins of the University of Mary, Bemidji State University and the University of Minnesota Duluth. The three Peacock wins came against St. Cloud State University (6-2), Minot State University (10-7) and Wayne State College (3-2), while the losses include nine losses by three runs or less; 2-0 to SCSU, a pair of 3-2 losses to Southwest Minnesota State University with one coming in extra innings, a 6-5 loss to the University of Minnesota Crookston, a pair of two-run losses to Minot State (9-7 and 7-5), two close losses at Minnesota State University, Mankato (5-2 and 2-1), and a 10-8 loss to Wayne State in the series opener.
PUTTING THE NSIC GAMES UNDER THE MICROSCOPE… Ethan Sawyer leads the UIU offense in 22 NSIC games with a batting average of .329 and a slugging percentage of .439 with 13 runs batted in.
Justin Baehler (.325),
Victor Plaz (.289),
Brock Zimmer (.288),
Cael Luzum (.283) and
Ryan Hull (.283) have also found success at the plate in this season's run in the conference. Hull has a team-high 14 RBI against the NSIC, while Sawyer's seven extra base hits lead the squad fueled by six doubles. UIU is 22-28 on the stolen base attempts in conference games and is fielding at a percentage of .958 with 30 errors in 510 chances. On the mound,
Keaton Parker has taken up 30 innings on the hill with a 3-2 mark and an ERA of 4.20 in five NSIC starts, while
Colin Lacey has an ERA of 4.50 in 20.0 innings and a 1-2 mark.
Kyle Hrncir is holding opponents to a .223 batting average in his 27.2 innings with a 2-2 record and an ERA of 4.55.
PARKER'S BIG DAY… Keaton Parker (3-3) scored his second-straight win on the mound for the Peacock baseball team on Saturday throwing a three-hit, 14-strikeout complete game against Wayne State. Upper Iowa, who won the series finale 3-2, snapped a five-game slide with the win coming out on the right side of the tight decision. The right-hander from Vinton, Iowa cruised through the first eight innings allowing just the two hits with one walk while striking out 13 of the 27 batters he faced. In the game, Parker registered season-best marks in innings pitched, runs allowed and strikeouts and tied his season-bests of three hits and two earned runs. His 14 strikeouts are a new career-best, two better than last season's 12 during his seven no-hit innings against Concordia University, St. Paul. Parker gave some credit to his high strikeout total to fellow righty
Jarrett Ramer who struck out 11 Wildcats in his 5.2 innings on Friday.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN BEARS… Concordia-St. Paul is hitting .307 as a team with a slugging percentage of .434 thanks to 50 doubles, 12 triples and 18 home runs. The Golden Bears have struck out 236 times this season averaging nearly eight times per game; the same rate as Peacock batters to this point in the season. Kal Brohmer leads CSP with an average of .380 and an OPS of .948 thanks to six doubles, a triple and 24 walks. Bryce Nelson (.360), Noah Juliar (.346), Justin McGuigan (.326), Jaden Werner (.324) and Brayden Roybal (.309) all join Brohmer in having success at the plate this season. Juliar has the team-high in slugging (.589) behind five doubles, three triples and five long balls. On the mound, the Golden Bears are led by Jonah Lewis, who as a 3-3 record in eight starts and an ERA of 3.92 with 38 strikeouts in 43.2 innings. As a team, the pitching staff has an ERA of 7.04 and has allowed opponents to bat .323 with 201 strikeouts and 132 walks.
SCOUTING THE VIKINGS… Augustana enters the week having swept Minnesota State in three games to take over the top spot in the NSIC standings. The Vikings have won 13 of their last 15 games averaging 9 runs per game in that stretch. Augie will play the University of Sioux Falls on Wednesday in a double header prior to hosting the Peacocks over the weekend. As a team, Augustana is hitting .285, but is slugging .456 thanks to 88 doubles, 10 triples and 42 home runs. Jack Hines (.369), Drey Dirksen (.348) and Nick Banowetz (.345) lead the Augie offense and have combined for 53 extra base hits including 35 doubles, six triples and 12 homers. Ragan Pinnow and Dirksen share the team lead in long balls with eight apiece. The Vikings are also 108-128 in stolen base attempts this season. The pitching staff has posted an ERA of 4.37 this season in 343.2 innings with 395 strikeouts and 133 walks. Augie has held opponents to a batting average of .233 this season. Caleb Saari (2.91 ERA, 3-2, 62 Ks) and Seth Miller (3.14 ERA, 6-1, 62 Ks) have started 18 of Augie's games and are the aces for the Vikings.
LOOKING AHEAD… UIU is set to close April with a busy week including a non-conference game at the University of Iowa on Apr. 25 at 4 p.m., a double header at the University of Sioux Falls in South Dakota on Apr. 26, and a three-game series at home against Winona State University on Apr. 29-30. Upper Iowa will recognize their seniors on during their home series with the Warriors.
