It could have been a warm reunion for Northern Iowa head coach Rick Heller as his Panthers hosted his alma mater Upper Iowa University. But the Peacocks jumped on the Panthers right away in the top of the first scoring five runs on Panther starter Tim Smid. Upper Iowa loaded the bases with their first three batters and Mitch Walser doubled home two runs to start the scoring. That confidence rolled over to the defensive side for Upper Iowa in a 7-3 win at Waterloo. That’s sophomore pitcher Brian Solemsaas pitched his second complete game of the season, giving up three runs on ten hits.
U-N-I head coach Rick Heller wanted to see more out of his kids on a night like this. Heller says they were missing two of their best hitters and that hurt them some.
Offensively U-N-I tallied 10 hits to Upper Iowa’s 11. Heller says he thought his team did well offensively, hitting several balls hard, but not ending up with anything to show for it.
Senior Nate Trumm hit his 10th home run of the season and says the win will help boost their confidence. The Peacocks improve to 20-15 and will use this momentum heading into a 4 game series at home this weekend. U-N-I falls even to 16-16, and jump right back on the horse, hosting Northern Illinois tonight.