THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK BASEBALL… Upper Iowa (18-26, 14-18 NSIC) heads to Aberdeen, S.D. on Friday and Saturday for the final games of the regular season. The Peacocks will line up against the Wolves of Northern State University (NSIC) for three games. UIU and NSU will play a double header on Friday beginning at 1:30 p.m. and then get together on Saturday for a single, nine-inning game scheduled for 2 p.m.

LIVE OPTIONS... Live stats and live video will be available for the three games this weekend. Fans can access the live options through the links above or by going to UIUPeacocks.com/Live on game day. Fans can also stream the games against Northern State on the NSIC Network app on their favorite streaming devices for free if a trip to South Dakota isn't the plans this weekend.
 
WHAT'S ON THE LINE… Upper Iowa, along with five other teams, are all still in the running for the final three spots in the NSIC postseason tournament. The Peacocks, who currently stand in 10th place in the standings with the University of Mary, can reach as high as seventh place depending on results of the weekend. Minot State University, Winona State University, Wayne State College and Concordia University, St. Paul are the other four teams that will be giving everything to play beyond this weekend. For Upper Iowa to qualify for the postseason for the first time since the 2009 season, the Peacocks will need the following:

• Upper Iowa will need to go 3-0 at Northern State this weekend
• UMary will have to lose at least one game against the University of Minnesota Duluth
• Concordia-St. Paul will have to lose at least one game to Minnesota State University, Mankato
• Wayne State (vs. St. Cloud State University) or Winona State (vs. University of Sioux Falls) will have to lose all three of their games this weekend

 
HISTORY VERSUS THE WOLVES… Upper Iowa carries a 21-16 record against Northern State dating back to the 2007 season, UIU's first campaign in the NSIC. Over the last two seasons, the teams have both won three games apiece with each squad winning twice on the road. The Peacocks have scored a total of 278 runs in the 37 matchups for an average of 7.5 runs per game.
 
PACING THE PEACOCKS…  As a team, the Peacocks are hitting .259 with 60 doubles, seven triples and 44 home runs. Ryan Hull and Ethan Sawyer have led the way this season with a combined 97 hits including 15 doubles and eight homers. Hull (.320) has 47 hits and a team-high 14 stolen bases to go along with eight sacrifice bunts, all while playing some of the cleanest defensive baseball in the conference in center field. Sawyer (.313) leads the team in hits (50) and runs batted in (39) as a sophomore for UIU. Cael Luzum is slugging .477 thanks to six doubles, three triples and five long balls, while fellow outfielder Bryce Hall has an on-base percentage of .435 thanks to 34 hits, 32 walks and 7 hit batsmen. Hall leads the team in runs scored with 36. Samuel Grushkin leads the team in home runs (8) and is slugging .474 while holding down third base for UIU. Brock Zimmer, Victor Plaz and Justin Baehler have all been swinging hot bats of late as well as the Peacocks scored 26 runs in their three-game sweep of Winona State last weekend. On the mound, the Peacocks are led by four starters in the form of Jarrett Ramer (4-3, 6.66 ERA, 38 Ks), Keaton Parker (3-4, 5.62 ERA, 49 Ks), Kyle Hrncir (4-5, 5.74 ERA, 47 Ks) and Colin Lacey (2-4, 6.45 ERA, 32 Ks), as well as relievers Sam Marhefke (2-2, 4.75 ERA, 37 Ks), JJ Vargas (1-0, 3.37 ERA, 10 Ks), Isaiah Maes (7.30 ERA, 19 Ks) and Austin Shingledecker (2-2, 8.00 ERA, 26 Ks). As a staff, UIU has recorded 292 strikeouts in their 338.1 innings. 

SCOUTING THE WOLVES (courtesy of NSU Athletics Communication)… The Wolves are coming off a stretch of five games in three days, where they were victims of series sweeps against Southwest Minnesota State by scores of 9-5, 8-2, and 5-4, as well as St. Cloud State by scores of 8-2 and 11-3. As a team, Northern has hit .270 with 336 hits, 72 doubles, one triple, 38 homeruns, 184 RBI, and 209 runs scored through 40 games played. Four NSU players are currently batting above .300 as they enter the weekend series, led by Jack Paulson (.350), Jackson Meyer (.338), Reece Ragatz (.316), and Niko Pezonella (.311). While Paulson leads the team with a .350 batting average, he also has recorded a team-best 49 hits and is tied with Pezonella for the team lead with 11 doubles. As Northern's leader in slugging percentage (.684) and on-base plus slugging percentage (1.064), Ragatz has also tallied the Wolves lone triple of the season and has recorded a team-best nine home runs. The Wolves' pitching staff has recorded an ERA of 7.83, allowing 376 hits and 186 walks, while throwing 307 strikeouts; opponents have held a .297 batting average against NSU pitchers. Michael Chevalier (4-4) and Max Otto (0-8) have been Northern State's top starting pitchers this season, recording ERAs of 4.63 and 4.97, respectively. Otto pitched his fourth complete game of the season this past weekend and has limited opponents to a .247 batting average while striking out a team-high 74 batters; Chevalier mas made a team-high 11 starts this season while holding opponents to a .226 batting average and has thrown 64 strikeouts.
 
LOOKING AHEAD… The 2023 NSIC Baseball Tournament will be an eight-team double elimination tournament played May 10-13 and hosted by the University of Mary. The games will be played at Veterans Memorial and Municipal Ballparks in Mandan and Bismarck, North Dakota.