The University of Indianapolis baseball team is wrapping up its regular season and heading into the postseason, with conference tournament play beginning on May 7, according to UIndy Athletics.
Head Coach Al Ready has led the Greyhounds to back-to-back NCAA Midwest Super Regional and College World Series appearances in 2023 and 2024, according to UIndy Athletics. Ready is in his seventh season as head coach at UIndy. In his first season as head coach, he had a 30-20 season and finished 19-14 in the GLVC. Before being named head coach, he was already on the coaching staff since 2008.
“Well, it’s been a few ups and downs,” Ready said. “We had a little bit of a slow start, but each week that’s gone by, we’ve gotten better and better. We have a lot of new guys on the roster, and when you’re trying to replace six of your nine starting position players in a relatively complex offense … it can be a process to learn the offense.”
The Greyhounds run an action-type offense, meaning that the team focuses on strategies to score and scoring plays. The team had a lot of transfers that came in this season to help build the roster after losing a large chunk of it last year.
“We just lost so many guys last year that we relied on and starters that we had to replace,” Ready said. “Sometimes, with this environment, with the transfer portal, it becomes a lot easier to get guys that are experienced, that are older, that are bigger and stronger, and that’s what we did now.”
The goal for the Greyhounds is to get back to Cary and the College World Series. Despite some tough losses, Ready said they are still in good position to make a run in the playoffs.
“In the short run, we’re looking forward to another run back to Cary,” Ready said. “You know, we’re sitting pretty, the conference has let us hang around while we figured things out and we played a lot better, our strength of schedule has been tough, and we’ve weathered the storm, so to speak.”
Ready noted that the future of this team looks bright. He said he is excited to see where they can go in the upcoming years and how this program can grow. The team is like a family, he said, and despite the low points of this year he is still proud of the program.
“We’re in a good place, we’re in good shape to get back to Cary this year and in the coming years,” Ready said. “I see this program as strong as ever, and it’s a family. It’s a place where people want to go to school at UIndy and play baseball here, it’s just a great athletic department, and a great family to be a part of.”
Senior Austin Bestul is a pitcher for the Greyhounds this season. He currently has 35 strikeouts on the season. Bestul has been here since freshman year and in his final year, is grateful for the opportunities he has been given.
“I came in as a big-time position player my freshmen year, and was lucky enough to also have the talent as a pitcher,” Bestul said. “Just the road along the way, learning from a bunch of different teammates I’ve had and making a bunch of different friendships with people I’ll know for the rest of my life.” The Greyhounds will start the first round of the playoffs May 7 – 10 in Marion, Illinois.
