BOX SCORE
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio- Senior pitcher
Andrew Werner (Washington, Ill./Washington Community) tossed five solid innings in relief to help the University of Indianapolis baseball team (43-19) to a convincing 9-2 win against Southern Indiana (39-19) Saturday at V.A. Memorial Stadium. Behind a combined three-hitter from Werner and starter
Vince Saisi (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect), UIndy advances to the finals of the NCAA D-II Midwest Regional looking for its first regional title since 2000.
Already with four homeruns in the tournament’s first two games, the Hounds continued the pound the baseball as catcher
Chase Kittinger (Carmi, Ill./Carmi White County) put UIndy up 2-0 with his first-inning blast to left.
Adam Akin (Evansville, Ind./North) coaxed a walk just ahead of Kittinger, when the all-region first teamer deposited a 1-1 offering into the trees.
After Saisi sat the Eagles down in order in the bottom of the first, the Greyhound bats again applied pressure to the USI defense, as a single, a hit batsman and a walk loaded the bases with one out in the top of two.
A passed ball put the Hounds up three before Kittinger earned his second hit of the game on a high chopper to short that plated
Justin Russell (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson). Third baseman
Travis Capps (Indianapolis, Ind./Warren Central), who came into the game hitting .500 for the tournament, made it a three-run inning by sending one to the wall for a sacrifice fly.
Even though the scoreboard still showed a “0” in the USI hit column, the UIndy bullpen scurried a bit when Saisi started the bottom of the fourth by plunking the first two hitters he faced. The Oakton Community College transfer escaped damage, however, by getting a three-pitch strikeout and a double-play grounder to keep the Eagles off the board.
After first baseman
Danny Collier (New Palestine, Ind./New Palestine) notched an RBI single in the top of the fifth to make it 6-0 Hounds, Saisi’s outing ended in the bottom half after he walked the first two hitters of the inning.
UIndy went to lefty Andrew Werner, who proceeded to get two Ks and a ground out, but mixed in was an RBI double from USI catcher Dylan Mooney that made it 6-2 Hounds.
Both USI runs were charged to Saisi, who finished with no hits allowed and two Ks. His four-plus innings of work also included four walks and two hit batsman.
The Eagles’ fifth-inning outburst proved to be their only productive inning as Werner continued to mow through the USI lineup. He racked up 11 strikeouts over the final five innings and hung zeros on the board for the final four. The Washington, Ill. product upped his record to 7-2 while his season strikeout total now sits at 99, good for a share of the fourth highest total in school history.
After a few unproductive innings of their own, the Greyhounds started the ninth with a single from Russell. The base hit not only extended his hitting streak to 21 games, but also made him UIndy’s all-time hits leader, breaking the old mark of 215 held by Tom Daeger (1996, 98-00).
The Hounds went on to score three runs in the final frame, two coming on an opposite field single from Collier.
Werner punctuated his night by striking out the side in a perfect ninth to ensure a UIndy appearance in the regional championship game. The Hounds will face Grand Valley State Sunday at noon for the right to go to the Division II College World Series starting next weekend. The Greyhounds downed GVSU
5-4 in the first round of the regional, thanks to a three-run bomb from Sondgeroth in the ninth.
A win tomorrow would give UIndy its first regional title since the 2000 season, when Head Coach
Gary Vaught guided his squad to a third-place finish at the World Series. GVSU will need to beat Indianapolis twice Sunday, while the Hounds will advance with just one win.