THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK SOFTBALL… Upper Iowa opens the conference season with a double header on the road against Truman State. The games will be held on Sunday, Mar. 17 at 12 and 2 p.m. and will be the first of 13 GLVC double headers that UIU will be competing in this season.
LIVE COVERAGE OPTIONS… Upper Iowa offers numerous ways for you to stay connected to softball this week. Webcasts can be found at
https://glvcsn.com/truman/ and Live Stats can be viewed at
https://trumanbulldogs.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary. Both links will be included with this story.
PITCHING POWERHOUSE… Delaney Vetter pitched multiple complete games at the Spring Games which included a 14-strikeout game against Glenville State and a 12-strikeout performance against Saint Rose where the Peacocks won both games. Vetter has posted a 3.36 ERA while allowing a .237 batting average against. She has pitched a team-high 71 strikeouts over the course of 68 innings this season.
Abby Buckman has gone 3-3 on the mound while putting together a 4.31 ERA and a .297 batting average against. Buckman threw 11 strikeouts in a Spring Games victory over Thomas More and she has pitched two complete games where she has allowed only one run in both matches.
HIGHLIGHTING THE HITTERS… Leadoff hitter
Ari Charles has recorded a team-high .393 batting average and her six triples are tied for the second most in a season in school history. She has gotten on base 35 times and has scored 21 runs with 10 RBIs and two home runs.
Laila Pelds has also hit two homers and she leads the Peacocks with 23 RBIs. Pelds has added 23 hits and has scored 10 runs.
Serah Shafer has scored the second most runs with 16 on only 23 hits. She has successfully stolen a base in 12 out of 14 attempts and has posted a batting average of .288.
NOTABLE SPRING GAMES PERFORMANCES…
TEST WITH TRUMAN STATE… The Bulldogs have concluded non-conference action with an 8-14 record and are coming off a 5-1 win over Sioux Falls. Sophomore Emily Wood leads the team in nearly every statistical category as she has posted a .413 batting average with 31 hits, 21 runs and four home runs. She has added 11 RBIs and has hit five doubles. Freshman Charlotte Chelich has recorded a .346 average while hitting a team-high 15 RBIs. She has scored eight runs on 18 hits with six doubles and one triple. Sophomore Cassie Smith is hitting .318 on the season and she has scored the second most runs with 13. Smith has recorded 21 hits with 10 RBIs and she has successfully stolen a base in 15 out of 16 attempts. Junior Madie Anderson has gone 3-5 on the mound while pitching three complete games. She has pitched a team-high 29 strikeouts with an ERA of 6.96.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS… The Peacocks will play their first two home games of the season next week against Illinois Springfield and Quincy. Upper Iowa's home opener against UIS will be on Saturday, Mar. 23 at 12 and 2 p.m. and they will face Quincy on Sunday, Mar. 24 at 12 and 2 p.m. once again.
