The Online Reflector

The University of Indianapolis baseball team split their four-game series with the University of Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles this past weekend. The Hounds took the first game on April 5, split on April 6 and lost on April 7.
In their last game of the weekend series, the Hounds lost to the Screaming Eagles in nine innings by the score of 3-1.
After two scoreless innings, USI got on the board during the bottom of the third with two runs. Following another pair of scoreless innings, the Hounds got on the board as well, with one run during the top of the sixth. However, USI pulled away at the bottom of the seventh with another run, extending their lead and claiming the victory. Neither team scored in the remaining innings.
Taking the loss for UIndy was sophomore pitcher Matt Pate, allowing a pair of hits and runs and striking out a pair of players.
On April 6, the Greyhounds and Screaming Eagles both made program history in their first of two games that day, by playing 18 innings. The game was the longest ever played in either program’s history, but it was the Screaming Eagles who came away with the victory, 5-4.

Senior pitcher Phil Wheeler pitches during one of the Greyhounds’ games against Kentucky Wesleyan College. UIndy won three of four games over the Panthers. Photo by Victoria Jenkins.

UIndy held the lead first, after gaining a run during the top of the second inning. After adding another run at the top of the sixth and extending their lead by two runs, UIndy allowed the Screaming Eagles to tie the game up with two runs of their own during the bottom of the sixth.
After a scoreless seventh inning, freshman second baseman Anthony Asalon was walked during the top of the eighth, allowing a run by redshirt freshman catcher/outfielder Alex Ritchie, which gave the Hounds the lead, 3-2. However, the Screaming Eagles did not go away and tied the game up once again during the bottom of the eighth with another run. After nine scoreless innings following that run, the Greyhounds took the lead back by one run in the top of the 18th inning. Yet in the bottom of the 18th, the Screaming Eagles put an end to the long game with two runs, claiming the lead and the victory.
Junior pitcher Josh Witt took the loss for the Hounds, allowing three hits and two runs and striking out five players.
The second game between the Hounds and USI was shorter in length, and the Greyhounds claimed the victory, 4-3.
UIndy took the lead early with one run in the first inning, but during the bottom of the second, USI had two runs, which put them ahead by one. UIndy tied up the score during the top of the next inning, but in the bottom of the fifth, the Screaming Eagles took the lead back with a run. In the seventh inning, however, senior second baseman Scott Lawley hit a single to center field that resulted in two RBIs, giving the Hounds the lead and the victory.
Redshirt junior pitcher Aaron Gregory took the win for the Greyhounds, allowing no hits and no runs and striking out two players.
In their first game against the Screaming Eagles on April 5, the Greyhounds scored early with a run in the second and third innings. The game remained scoreless for the next two innings, but the Greyhounds added to their lead in the sixth inning when senior third baseman Tyler O’Daniel ran in for the score in result of a single to right field by junior catcher Caleb Hallman.
The Greyhounds increased their lead by three more runs at the top of the seventh inning and looked to hold the Screaming Eagles scoreless.    However, USI was able to score two runs at the bottom of the seventh with a home run to center field that resulted in two RBIs. The Greyhounds held on, however, and claimed the victory in nine innings.
Senior pitcher Phil Wheeler claimed the victory for the Hounds, allowing seven hits and two runs and striking out four players.
The Greyhounds lost their doubleheader against the visiting Saint Joseph’s College Pumas on April 2, 9-8 and 4-2.
In the first inning of game one, senior first basemen Jake Hartley’s double helped  Lawley score the first Greyhound run. Following Lawley’s run, the Hounds put together five more runs and held a 6-2 lead going into the fifth inning.
The Pumas, however, responded with a pair of doubles in the fifth that added three more runs to their total. In the eighth inning, the Pumas added three more runs and in the ninth one more, giving them a 9-6 lead. The Greyhounds had a late rally in the bottom of the ninth but came up short by one run, losing 9-8.
In the second game, the Greyhounds scored one run in the first inning, jumping out to an early 1-0 lead. The Pumas tied the game during the top of the second with an unearned run, making the score 1-1. The Pumas then added three more runs in the game before the Greyhounds would score in the bottom of the seventh inning. Another late comeback attempt by the Hounds, however, was not enough to put them ahead, which led to the loss.
Pate took the loss, throwing 4.1 innings and allowing six hits and three runs.
Before the Greyhounds’ games against the Pumas, Hartley said that Saint Joseph’s has always been a good competitor.
“Saint Joseph’s always plays us well. It’s kind of like the IU–Kentucky rivalry. All rankings go out the window, and we just focus on playing our best,” Hartley said.
Prior to playing the Pumas, the Greyhounds hosted the Kentucky Wesleyan College Panthers in doubleheaders on both March 29 and 30. The Greyhounds swept the Panthers on the first day, 5-4 and 3-1, but split the following day with a 9-6 victory and a 17-9 loss.
The second victory for the Hounds  on the first day of action was also Head Baseball Coach Gary Vaught’s 800th victory as a National Collegiate Athletic Association head coach.
Vaught said that in the games against Saint Joseph’s and Kentucky Wesleyan, injuries were the biggest obstacle working against the Greyhounds.
“No doubt the injuries were the largest role. And the reason why is that we had to move people out of their comfort zone. People who had not played short stop, played short stop. We had to move outfielders to center field. And when you do that, not so much the positions but the batting order changed,” Vaught said.
Today, the Greyhounds will travel to Northern Kentucky University to take on the Norse at 3 p.m. On April 13 and 14, the Greyhounds will host the McKendree University Bearcats at noon in doubleheaders at Greyhound Park.