Baseball falls to No. 6 Ashland
By Stephanie Snay | Staff Writer
The University of Indianapolis baseball team tacked on two more losses to its record, going 5-5.
Playing against the No. 6 ranked Ashland University Feb. 28 to March 1, the ‘Hounds lost their first game 2-1.
The second game against Ashland went into additional innings. The teams had been tied at 1-1, until Ashland scored in the top of the 11th inning. UIndy did not score in the bottom, resulting in an Ashland 3-1 win.
“Ashland went to the Division II college world series last year. Taking home a couple of wins against them would be great,” said senior Ben Sondgeroth.
On Feb. 22, the team was scheduled to play Hillsdale College in a double header, but those games were cancelled due to the weather.
The Greyhounds played Northwest Missouri State University (NMSU) Feb. 15, losing the first game 3-4, but came back to win the second game 4-1.
In the first game, the ‘Hounds did not get a chance to score until the bottom of the fourth inning, tying the game at 2-2. NMSU scored twice in the top of the sixth inning, but UIndy would come back to score in the bottom of that inning. For the rest of game both teams would not score, and the ‘Hounds lost 3-4.
“We have scored a lot of runs in our first few games, and hitting usually takes some time to develop,” said senior Casey Potter. “We have a good group of underclassman who have been playing well and putting up some numbers.”
On Feb. 16, the UIndy Athletic Web site announced that senior Travis Kempton was named Great Lakes Valley Conference pitcher-of-the-week. He pitched three scoreless innings during the game against Arkansas Tech University on Feb. 14.
Potter said one obstacle at the beginning of the season was the bad weather, but the team was able to get past it.
“I think that there are big things in store for this team once we get a chance to be consistently on the field and play every day outside,” Sondgeroth said.
Potter said it is still early in the season and there is room for improvement.
“I think we will win a lot of games. We saved our bigger games for last this year, with Bellarmine and St. Joseph’s in late April,” Potter said. “We should be plenty fired up and ready to go by then.”
The team has been practicing every day, preparing for the season ahead.
“It has been good to get away the past few weekends to get to play and knock some of the rust off,” Sondgeroth said.
The Greyhounds are scheduled to play Oakland City University at Oakland City, Ind. on March 7, at 1 p.m., and Hillsdale at 4 p.m. The team will play two more times at Oakland City on March 8, at 1 and 4 p.m.
