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Feb. 8, 2008
The Upper Iowa baseball team left the snow and cold temperatures of Northeast Iowa for the warm weather of Arkadelphia, Arkansas for their season opener. The Peacocks took the field to face the #3 Tigers of Ouchita Baptist. The Tigers entered the game with a perfect 3-0 record after starting their season last week. UIU's starting pitcher Zach Raff kept the powerful Tiger lineup off balance through the first six innings and the boys from Iowa held a one-run lead after their half of the seventh inning. Unfortunately, a four-run rally by the home team in the bottom of the seventh secured the win for the ranked Tigers and gave the Peacocks their first loss of the young season. Upper Iowa took the field for their first action outside since this fall, but the Peacocks looked steady through the first six innings of action using great defense behind Raff to hold a potent Tiger lineup to just one run over that time. The Tiger run came on a homerun in the second inning. Upper Iowa scratched out the tying run when Ryan Arp jarred the ball loose sliding into home on a Nick Fjelland fly ball to right field. T.J. Johnson gave Upper Iowa a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh on a homerun, but the Tigers came back with four runs of their own in the bottom of the seventh. On the day, Raff threw 6.1 innings allowing three runs on three hits. The Sheboygan, Wisconsin native walked four and struck out three. Brian Putnam pitched well in relief to shutdown the home team's rally with 1.2 innings and only one hit allowed. The Peacocks defense was led by Erik Sorensen (5 assists) and Nick Fjelland (3 assists). At the plate, Upper Iowa saw six players tally a hit, all singles except for Johnson's round-tripper. Upper Iowa will play two games tomorrow, Feb. 9; the first will be against Drury at 10:30 a.m. while the second is against the #3 Tigers again at 2:00 p.m. The Peacocks will wrap up their weekend series with a second game against Drury at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. |
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