Bad weather and tough luck kept the Upper Iowa baseball team out of the NCAA Division two tournament. The Peacocks lost their shot at an automatic berth in the field when the Northern Sun Conference Tournament was shortened to a single elimination format because of rain.
They were making their way through the losers bracket at the time. Upper Iowa coach Mark Danker says the conference tried to keep things going for everyone, but several factors that were out of their hands came into play.
The Peacocks then saw their chance at an at-large berth fade away when Concordia-St. Paul upset regular season champion Wayne State in the tournament championship game. Danker says their resume was strong enough to get in, but upsets happen all the time in tournaments when a lower seed wins.
Overall, it was an outstanding season for the Peacocks who finished second in the league race. Danker was named coach of the year and has led the program from division three to the division two ranks. He says the move to division two was an "outstanding thing" and they attained some of the goals they sought.Upper Iowa finished the season 30-25 overall.
