The Upper Iowa baseball team split their double header on Sunday at Augustana University handing the NSIC-leading Vikings just their seventh conference loss of the season. Augie rallied with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning of game one and got the Peacocks out in the seventh to post a 5-4 comeback win in game one, but Upper Iowa earned the split with an 11-10 win in 15 innings in game two after Bryce Hall hit his second home run of the weekend in the top of the 15th. After the split, Upper Iowa moves to 15-23 overall and 11-16 in the NSIC, while Augustana is now 32-16 overall and 21-7 in conference games.
 
Augustana 5 – Upper Iowa 4
In game one, Brock Zimmer got the Peacocks on the board in the top of the first with an RBI-double to left centerfield. A leadoff home run by Drey Dirksen in the bottom of the second inning tied the game, but Upper Iowa answered with two runs in the top of the third inning. Upper Iowa took advantage of a pair of errors on the right side of the Viking infield that allowed runs two runs to score and pushed the Peacock advantage to 3-1. Ethan Sawyer made it 4-1 with a sacrifice fly to centerfield that allowed Hall to score after both he and Ryan Hull singled to open the inning.
 
The Peacocks took their 4-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning and still maintained their lead with two outs, although the Vikings had runners on first and second. A single up the middle by S Siegel pushed one run home and left runners on the corners. Another single brought a run in and then a pair of errors allowed both the tying and go-ahead runs to score giving the home team a 5-4 lead. Augustana got the three outs they needed in the seventh inning taking their short-lived lead into the clubhouse for the win.
 
Keaton Parker suffered the loss despite throwing a solid game against the conference-leading Vikings. The righty allowed five runs, three earned on just six hits across his six innings of work with three strikeouts.
 
Kai Taylor picked up the win in relief with three strikeouts in his 1.2 innings, and Adam Diedrich threw the seventh to earn his 10^th save.
 
Ryan Hull had a pair of singles, while both Zimmer and Sawyer posted a pair of runs batted in.
 
Upper Iowa 11 – Augustana 10 (15 Inn.)
The Peacocks made sure their current trip to Sioux Falls didn't go without a win thanks to a 15-inning shootout with the Vikings. Upper Iowa tallied 17 hits in the 15 innings to score their 11 runs as five pitchers climbed the hill closed out by a pair of freshmen. JJ Vargas threw four innings allowing two runs in the eighth inning before holding the Vikings scoreless for three straight innings. Kyle Hrncir came on in the 12^th inning and threw four scoreless innings allowing just one hit while striking out six batters to earn the victory, his third of the season. The five Peacock pitchers combined for 18 punch outs against the Vikings averaging more than one per inning in the series finale.
 
At the plate, Hull recorded four hits, while Cael Luzum picked up three hits including a two-run long ball to push the Peacocks ahead by three, 8-5, in sixth inning. Sawyer and Victor Plaz each had a pair of hits as well; Plaz hit a two-run homer as well in the fifth inning to break a 4-4 tie in the fifth inning. Hall walked three times in the game; but when he came to the plate in the 15^th, he hit the second pitch of the at bat over the fence in left centerfield for the go-ahead run.
 
Upper Iowa tied the game at 3-3 in the third inning when Sawyer singled up the middle and drove in Hall and Hull, who reached base to open the inning with a walk and bunt single, respectively. Once UIU tied the score, the team did not trail again taking leads in the top of the fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth innings. Each time UIU took a lead, the Vikings rallied from behind to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth, sixth and eighth innings.
 
After the eighth inning, neither team scored until the Peacock home run by Hall in the 15th, but Upper Iowa was knocking on the door in nearly every inning. While the Vikings only left three runners on base over the last seven innings, the Peacocks stranded 11 runners on base over the final innings, but came through with the most important run of the game on Hall's long ball.
 
Upper Iowa has a busy week ahead that will start in Iowa City, Iowa when the Peacocks challenge the Hawkeyes of the University of Iowa, coached by Upper Iowa Hall of Famer Rick Heller, on Tuesday, Apr. 25 at 4 p.m. in a non-conference game. After the exciting match up with the Hawkeyes on Tuesday, UIU will head back into NSIC action when they take on the University of Sioux Falls on Wednesday, Apr. 26 in a pivotal NSIC double header. Upper Iowa wraps up their week at home for the final time this season with a three-game series against Winona State University on Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 29-30.