INDIANAPOLIS- In an announcement made Wednesday evening, the league's coaches voted five UIndy baseball players to the 2009 All-Great Lakes Valley Conference Teams, with four Greyhounds receiving first team recognition.  Junior Chase Kittinger, sophomore Cory Rupert, senior Ben Sondgeroth and junior Cory White all garnered first team honors, while senior Justin Russell made the second team.

In his first season at UIndy, junior Chase Kittinger was named the GLVC's first team catcher.  The transfer from Rend Lake Community College tops the league in hitting with an even .400 batting average.  Defensively, Kittinger handles a pitcher staff that leads the conference in strikeouts and opponents' batting average.

Ben Sondgeroth, a second team honoree at designated hitter last season, collected a first team nod as a utility player this year.  Sondgeroth started at least ten games at four positions in 2009 (1B, 3B, C, DH), while leading the league in RBI and slugging percentage.  The Greyhound clean-up hitter has 12 homeruns on the year, good for the seventh highest single-season total in school history.

UIndy's first-team pitching tandem of Cory White and Cory Rupert sports a combined 17-2 record heading into the GLVC Tournament.  White, who has team highs in complete games (4) and shutouts (2), has racked up 66 Ks in just 53 innings and sits second in the league with 11.2 strikeouts per game.  Rupert tops the UIndy starters with a 2.77 ERA and has not surrendered a homerun this season.  The pair of arms has helped the UIndy staff set a program record with 433 total strikeouts on the year.

Senior centerfielder Justin Russell rounds out the Indianapolis all-conference honorees by being named to one of the four outfield spots on the All-GLVC Second Team.  A third-team honoree last year, Russell put up impressive numbers this season despite missing time due to injury.  The Greyhound leadoff man leads the league in stolen bases per contest while also hitting .378 in conference games.  Russell is the UIndy all-time leader in runs scored and is just 10 hits shy of breaking the program's career hits record.

Indianapolis (37-17) competes for the 2009 GLVC Championship this week at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill.  The Hounds begin play in the six-team, double-elimination tourney versus Rockhurst Friday at 1 p.m. EDT.   Click here for the official tournament webpage.

2009 ALL-GLVC TEAMS
First Team
C –  Chase Kittinger, Indianapolis
1B – Evan McDole, Northern Kentucky
2B – Patrick Brady, Bellarmine
3B – Alex Thieroff, Southern Indiana
SS – Joe Rohlfing, Drury
UT – Ben Sondgeroth, Indianapolis
DH – Mike Walczuk, Rockhurst
OF – Kevin Dusold, Northern Kentucky
OF – Jason Cisper, Northern Kentucky
OF – Braxton Graven, Bellarmine
OF – Chad Werry, Southern Indiana
SP – Cory White, Indianapolis
SP – Michael Thompson, Bellarmine
SP – Trevor Leach, Southern Indiana
SP – Cory Rupert, Indianapolis
RP –  Shaun Larsen, Southern Indiana

Second Team
C –  Mike Pericht, Saint Joseph's
1B – Mike Hallam, Quincy
2B – Jordan Myers, Rockhurst
3B – Tyler Knust, Rockhurst
SS – Sean Estand, Saint Joseph's
UT – Tyler Choate, Southern Indiana
DH – Joe Messina, Saint Joseph's
OF – Justin Russell, Indianapolis
OF – Nick Troilo, Rockhurst
OF – Nate Weglarz, Saint Joseph's
OF – Adam Chester, Bellarmine
SP – Joe Scumaci, Lewis
SP – Sean Munninghoff, Northern Kentucky
SP – Jeremy Pope, Rockhurst
SP –Andrew Page, Missouri S&T
RP –  Matt Winterhalter, Northern Kentucky

Third Team
C –  Chris McCall, Lewis
1B – Ryan Porter, Rockhurst
2B – Pat Muth, Northern Kentucky
3B – Jeff Bohlen, Northern Kentucky
SS – Mike Finigan, Kentucky Wesleyan
UT – Todd Duckworth, Bellarmine
DH – Andy Heller, UW-Parkside
OF – Thomas McCormick, Missouri S&T
OF – Jack Ambrose, Northern Kentucky
OF – Scott Householder, Lewis
OF –Phil Widel, Missouri-St. Louis
SP – David Middendorf, Northern Kentucky
SP – Ryan Schmidt, Northern Kentucky
SP – Jarrett Casey, Northern Kentucky
SP – Shane Zegarac, Saint Joseph's
RP – Ryan Krull, Bellarmine

Freshman of the Year – Ryan Porter, Rockhurst
Pitcher of the Year – Michael Thompson, Bellarmine
Player of the Year – Evan McDole, Northern Kentucky
Coach of the Year – Todd Asalon, Northern Kentucky