FAYETTE, Iowa - The Peacock baseball team is scheduled for its first home games of the season at Robertson Woods Field for a GLVC contest against Maryville (Mo.) (10-10, 4-0 GLVC). Friday's game is scheduled for 2 p.m., Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m. and the series wraps up on Sunday at 12 p.m. 

LIVE OPTIONS
Fans unable to attend the games this weekend can stay connected with a pair of live options available at UIUPeacocks.com/Live, featuring access to live stats and a pay-per-view webcast through GLVCSN. Fans can also refer to the links attached to this story for all live options. 

In addition to GLVCSN.com, viewers can catch the Peacocks on the GLVCSN iOS and Android mobile app, as well as the GLVCSN app on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV.

LAST TIME OUT
The Peacocks earned their first GLVC sweep since joining the conference for the 2024 season, defeating Lincoln (Mo.) (4-15, 0-8 GLVC) in all four games in Jefferson, Missouri. Jared Hoodjer led Upper Iowa batting .667 with 10 hits, two doubles, three home runs and 17 RBIs. 

Leading 8-4 in game one, Brett Nicodemus entered the game with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth inning. The sophomore threw two consecutive strikeouts to pick up the save and aid UIU to an 11-4 victory.

The Peacocks won 14-4 in game two after scoring the 14 runs unanswered in five innings. Hoodjer was 3-for-3 with a grand slam and seven RBIs in the win. UIU scored 15 unanswered to start the game with Jayce Klug's first career homer, and a Hoodjer homer capped it off. 

With game four tied, 8-8, Hoodjer hit a 2RBI double to center field to take the lead. A Brock Zimmer three-run homer and an error that allowed the Peacocks to score two runs won the game, 15-8.

Klug batted .545 on the weekend with six hits, including a double, triple and homer. Thane Meiners totaled eight hits with a double and two RBs. Cael Luzum and Zimmer each had three doubles, and Luzum totaled eight hits to bat .500. 

Dylan Hesch, Nicodemus and Landon Boisen each pitched shutouts in their multi-inning appearances. Hesch totaled six strikeouts. Kyle Hrncir and Gabe Olson both picked up wins on the mound, with Hrncir throwing a team-high seven strikeouts in six innings pitched. 

GLVC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Hoodjer earned the GLVC Player of the Week award after his performance against Lincoln. He became the second UIU player to win the award this season, joining Gabe Bombardier on Feb. 17 after the Newman (Kan.) series. 

STATISTICAL SUMMARY
Hoodjer leads the Peacocks in batting average (.375) and slugging percentage (.896) with 18 hits in 48 at-bats. He's totaled a team-high seven home runs with four doubles and 22 RBIs. He's tied for the second-most home runs in the conference and is 20th in RBIs. 

Meiners is second on the team in batting average this season at .352 with a team-high 25 hits. He's totaled six doubles, a triple and a home run. He's 35th in the GLVC in batting average and has added 13 RBIs. 

Luzum is slashing .328/.473/.529 with nine doubles, a triple and a home run. He's only struck out three times this season, making him the toughest batter to strike out in the GLVC and the 11th toughest to strike out nationally. 

Zimmer is batting .303 with 23 hits, four doubles, five home runs and 19 RBIs. Klug reaches the most of any player on the team, walking 23 times for a .500 on-base percentage. Vargas has the second-most home runs on the team with six and Bombardier has the most RBIs with 23. 

Olson leads the Peacocks in innings pitched with 26.1 while posting a 2.73 ERA. He also has the most wins on the team with a 4-0 record and has tallied a team-high 27 strikeouts. Olson has the fourth-best ERA in the GLVC and has thrown the 17th-most strikeouts. 

Hesch has pitched 20 innings with a 2.70 ERA, a 2-0 record and 22 strikeouts. Hrncir has a 3.45 ERA in 15.2 innings with 18 strikeouts. Isaiah Maes has pitched 17.1 innings with 14 strikeouts. 

AROUND THE GLVC
UIU, Illinois Springfield (15-6, 4-0 GLVC) and Maryville are the lone unbeaten teams in conference play so far. Quincy (17-7, 6-2 GLVC), Rockhurst (16-5, 5-3 GLVC) and UIndy (11-12, 5-3 GLVC) have winning records with more than eight conference games played. Drury (12-8, 3-1 GLVC) and Missouri-St. Louis (9-11, 3-1 GLVC) took their opening series of GLVC play. 

Drury's Anthony Vita earned GLVC Pitcher of the Week after a 6.2 inning shutout performance against Lewis (Ill.) (6-14, 1-3 GLVC). The freshman totaled three strikeouts while giving up six hits and two walks. 

ABOUT THE SAINTS
Maryville enters this matchup after winning two out of three against No. 9 Grand Valley State (Mich.) this past weekend. The Saints tallied a 7-6 win in game two and a 9-8 win in game three. Before that, Maryville started 4-0 in GLVC play after sweeping Lincoln at home. 

Junior infielder Justin Gorski leads Maryville, slashing .372/.413/.628 with five doubles and two home runs. Sophomore Jace Burton has a .338 batting average with five doubles, two triples and three home runs. 

Dominic Anselmo, Jack Meyer and Greyson Rathgeb are all batting over .300. Meyer leads the team in doubles with eight. Steven Schenider leads the team in slugging percentage at .639 after smacking a team-high five home runs. 

Sophomore Braeden Sunken leads the team in innings pitched with 32.1, totaling a 6.40 ERA, 33 strikeouts and a 3-2 record. Ryan Horshaw has a 5.47 ERA in 26.1 innings pitched with 31 strikeouts. Junior lefty Brayden Rubel has pitched 21.1 innings with a 5.91 ERA and 23 strikeouts. 

The Saints are led by head coach Pat Evers, who is in his seventh season with the program. He has a 172-125 record with the Saints entering this weekend. 

The Peacocks last faced the Saints in 2024, with Maryville getting the sweep in St. Louis.