THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK BASEBALL… Upper Iowa baseball is set for a four-game series against McKendree this weekend with games Thursday through Saturday, followed by a double header on Monday against Emporia State in Omaha, Neb. First pitch against the Bearcats on Thursday is scheduled for 2 p.m., followed by a double header on Friday at 12 p.m. & 3 p.m. before wrapping up with one final game on Saturday at 12 p.m. Game time versus Emporia State is set for 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
LIVE ACTION… Live stats and live video for all of the games versus McKendree will be available with the links attached with this story. Fans can also access the live options by going to
UIUPeacocks.com/Live on every game day. The games against Emporia State will be a neutral site, and will not have live video or live stats.
RECAP OF THE LAST ACTION…. The Peacocks are looking to bounce back from their last series with Dury in Springfield, Mo. as they were unsuccessful in the four games played. They fell by scores of 8-4, 9-3, 4-3 and 8-2.
TEAM LEADERS… Gunnar Wicklund leads the Peacocks on offense with a .301 batting average, going 22-73 at the plate.
Ethan Sawyer follows behind with a .290 average while
Jared Hoodjer is batting .281 with a team-high 13 RBIS and five home runs.
Gabe Bombardier has notched three home runs while Wicklund and
JJ Vargas have recorded two. As a unit, the Peacocks have accumulated 165 hits (.239), 38 doubles, three triples and 15 home runs.
Isaiah Maes has thrown a total 22.1 innings for Upper Iowa, allowing 30 hits and 20 runs while striking out 18, the team-high.
Jason Jennerjohn has tossed 12.2 innings and has an ERA of 2.13 after allowing 12 hits and seven runs.
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS… McKendree is 9-16 overall with a 3-9 mark in the GLVC. The Bearcats picked up two conference wins over Illinois Springfield and one against Truman State. They are coming off a series split with the Prairie Stars from last weekend. They are led at the plate by Kaid Muth who is batting .333, followed by Noah Nelson who has a .322 average. Upper Iowa and McKendree are tied for 13
th in the GLVC.
SCOUTING THE HORNETS… The Peacocks and the Hornets met earlier in the season for a double header in Emporia, Kan. Emporia State took both games by the same score of 12-0. The Hornets are 15-7 overall and 6-11 in the MIAAA. They are looking to break their two-game skid, falling to Northeastern State (10-3) and Pittsburg State (13-6) in the last game of their series. ESU is paced on offense by Kadyn Williams, who is batting .474 and has recorded seven home runs this season.
DOWN THE STRETCH… The Peacocks will take on Missouri S&T in their next four-game series on April 5 - April 7 in Rolla, Mo.
