Softball breaks records
The No. 13 University of Indianapolis softball team (23-8-1, 7-5 GLVC) swept the University of Missouri St. Louis (13-12, 7-2 GLVC) 11-3, 11-2 this past weekend. The Tritons were atop the GLVC until losing to the Greyhounds.
“Our team is very young and I think that teams are taking us for granted,” said senior infielder Jamie Keltz. “This team is the most talented team I have been on, hands down.”
Game one against UMSL was scoreless until the Triton’s one run at the top of the second inning put them up 1-0. UIndy answered with three runs to bring the score to 3-1.
The rest of the game was littered with UMSL errors as the Greyhounds scored five more runs in the third inning, bringing the score to 8-1. UMSL answered with a home run in the fifth, but it was not enough to overcome the UIndy batters as three more runs were scored to end the game at 11-3.
Sophomore pitcher Jennifer DeMotte earned the win, while sophomore infielder Kelsey Rummel was 3-3 with three RBI’s.
“We’ve really got contribution from a lot of girls on the team,” said head coach Melissa Frost-Fisher. “The wealth of hits and outs and things like that has been widespread.”
In game two, the Greyhounds once again made short work of the Tritons, finishing the game in just five innings.
UIndy scored two runs in the bottom of the first from the work of freshman outfielder Che’ Hanebrik and DeMotte. In the second, Rummel scored a run and DeMotte hit a home run with a runner on base, bringing the score to 5-0. In the third, UMSL answered with two runs, but those proved to be the only points UMSL would produce as UIndy finished with six runs in the fourth to bring the final score to 11-2.
Freshman pitcher Lauren Edwards earned the win while Rummel scored three runs and had five RBIs.
Frost-Fisher noted how many of the freshman have stepped up recently and contributed to the team’s success.
Just one day earlier, the Greyhounds took on Southern Indiana University (13-15, 4-8 GLVC) and split the double-header with the Screaming Eagles.
Under DeMotte’s pitching in the first game, UIndy shut out USI and won the game 8-0. Keltz had three RBIs and freshman outfielder DeVynn Barker was 3-3.
In the second game, the Greyhounds fell to USI 3-5. After three scoreless innings, USI jumped to a lead in the fourth that UIndy never recovered from.
“There are always things we can improve on,” Keltz said. “It is a game of failure. We have to go in every day and work hard to make sure we stay on top.”
The Greyhounds won a doubleheader sweep of Maryville University (8-20, 3-7 GLVC) on March 30. The team beat the non-conference foe 8-3 and 8-1.
Keltz stole a total of five bases over the two games, breaking the UIndy record for career steals, and her home run brought her to 36 career home runs, tying the current UIndy career record for home runs.
“I’ve watched [Keltz] develop over the past four years. It makes me sad that it’s her last year,” said Head Coach Melissa Frost-Fisher. “She’s grown into such a phenomenal player.”
During a March 18 game against Wayne State, Keltz also broke the UIndy record for career hits.
“It was my first at bat of the game, and it went right in between the Wayne State pitcher’s legs,” Keltz said. “Coach Frost-Fisher stopped the game to get the game ball, and I was actually really confused. [Assistant Coach Sara Anderson] asked me if I knew what was going on. It was then that I found out I had broken the record for career hits.”
The team continues conference play with a doubleheader at Bellarmine University April 9, followed by a trip to Kentucky Wesleyan University April 10 for another doubleheader.
