Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box

FAYETTE, Iowa - Upper Iowa held off the Northern State Wolves in a pair of one-run games Sunday afternoon, claiming both wins by final scores of 4-3 and 6-5 to close out the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference season series.

The losses dropped NSU to 14-23 overall and 7-15 in league play.  UIU moved to 16-24 on the season and 12-13 in the loop.

Upper Iowa used a three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth in Game 1 to foil what had been a 3-1 Northern State lead.  All three runs in the inning for the Peacocks and all four in the game were unearned, as UIU turned three NSU errors into four runs in the win.

NSU's runs came in the fourth and fifth innings.  Jesse Gonzalez singled home pinch runner Kasey Gengler in the fifth for the Wolves' first run.  NSU then took advantage of back-to-back errors by Upper Iowa in the sixth to put a pair of runners on the base paths with one out.  Mark Abrahamson followed with a walk to load the bases for Trent Bestland, who delivered with an RBI single.  Jack Thompson then executed a sacrifice bunt to plate the insurance run.

Game two saw Upper Iowa take the early lead, going up 3-0 after two innings.  The Peacocks added two more in the sixth to extend the lead to 5-1 before the Wolves went to work in the top of the eighth inning.

Gonzalez led off the stanza with a single up the middle.  A walk and a hit batsman later, the Wolves had the bases loaded for clean-up hitter Zach Miller, who came through with an RBI single.  Cameron Lehner also scored on the play due to a miscue on the part of UIU's defense, which allowed all three base runners to move up 90 feet and put the tying run in scoring position.  Robbie Rocamora followed with another single that scored both Brent Lawrence from third and Miller from second, tying the game at 5-all.

NSU reliever Clint Manzo worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth, but the Wolves were unable to take advantage of having the winning run in scoring position in the ninth.

Upper Iowa again took advantage of a pair of defensive miscues in the bottom of the ninth, scoring the winning run unearned just two batters into the stanza.

The Wolves now close out the remainder of the season at home beginning with a two-game set against St. Cloud State on Wednesday.  First pitch is set for 1:30 p.m. at Fossum Field.