By: Doug Ingels - Sports Communication Graduate Assistant

In a season of records, the Upper Iowa softball team has surpassed all expectations. In the preseason, they were selected eighth by conference coaches, but the Peacocks finished the year tied for second in the conference standings. UIU earned the No. 3 seed in the NSIC Tournament, but now, after a 4-2 win over Bemidji State in the championship quarterfinals and a 1-0 victory over Minnesota State in the semifinals, the Peacocks will play for the 2016 Northern Sun Conference Tournament Championship.
 
In the win over the Beavers, junior Tara Walls and senior Tara Duran hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning to put UIU up 3-0 and propel the Peacocks to a 4-2 win.
 
Against Minnesota State, senior Brooke Redmond spun a gem by holding the Mavericks to just two hits in a 1-0 victory. Redmond struck out 12 and sophomore Sammy Garrett hit her second game-winning home run in the last two days with a solo shot in the top of the sixth.
 
Upper Iowa will have to wait to see who they will face in the championship game. Minnesota State and Minnesota Duluth will play at 10 a.m., with the winner playing against UIU at noon. Because it is a double-elimination tournament, if the Peacocks lose at noon, they will play against the same team again at 2 p.m. for the championship. There is high a chance  of rain in the Sioux Falls, S.D. area all day tomorrow, meaning there is a chance the games may be moved to Sunday.
 
Upper Iowa 4, Bemidji State 2
In the championship quarterfinal against Bemidji State, the Peacocks got back-to-back home runs from Walls and Duran in the bottom of the fourth inning that gave UIU a 3-0. Freshman Sami Kay Shafranski led off the inning with a single and stole second to get into scoring position. Then, with two outs and facing a 2-1 count, Walls hit her third home run of the year for the first two runs of the game. Duran came up next and took an 0-1 pitch to straight away center and put Upper Iowa ahead 3-0.
 
UIU added a run to their tally in the bottom of the fifth on the heels of another lead-off base runner. Sammons started the inning with a single to center and stole second before coming around to score a couple batters later when Riley Kruel reached on an error to push the Peacock lead to 4-0.
 
In the top of the sixth, the Beavers came back with a couple runs of their own to cut the Upper Iowa lead in half, 4-2. Jessica Yost launched a two-run home run with one out in the inning. With two outs, BSU had a single that brought the game-tying run to the plate, but senior Jacqueline Flood got the next hitter to pop out to third and end the inning.
 
Flood (18-8) got the Beavers to go 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh to close out the game and pick up her 18th win of the season. The All-NSIC First Teamer threw all seven innings, allowed just two runs on five hits while she struck out three and walked one.
 
Upper Iowa 1, Minnesota State 0
After advancing to the championship semifinals, the Peacocks knew they would have to face 2016 NSIC Pitcher of the Year in Minnesota State's Coley Ries. The junior pitched well and allowed just one run on three hits to Upper Iowa, but she was outdone by UIU's All-NSIC First Team pitcher Brooke Redmond.
 
Redmond threw one of the best games of her career, spinning a two-hit, complete-game shutout with 12 strike outs. The lefty never allowed a Maverick base runner reach third base, had four 1-2-3 innings, and allowed MSU to have multiple hitters reach base in just one inning.
 
Sammy Garrett, the hero from yesterday's 2-1 victory over Winona State, led off the sixth inning with a solo home run to put UIU up 1-0. Redmond made that one run hold up over the final inning and a half to secure the Peacocks trip to the 2016 NSIC Softball Tournament Championship.