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INDIANAPOLIS – The No. 1- ranked and top-seeded UIndy softball team (51-6) earned a 5-1 win versus No. 8-seed Wayne State at the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional 1 Friday.  Not only did the victory advance the Greyhounds in the national tournament, but it also gave the team 51 wins on the season, good for a new program record.

In an inspired move, UIndy Head Coach Melissa Frost-Fisher shook up her lineup Friday, including moving two-hole hitter Taylor Russell into the leadoff spot.  Russell responded with a home run to start the bottom of the first.  She will enter play Saturday just one homer shy of tying the school's single-season record.
 
The Hounds tacked on one more run in the first on a sacrifice fly from Jennifer DeMotte, giving the home team a 2-0 edge after one.
 
After freshman Erika Goodwin chipped in a two-out ribbie in the fourth, Casey Williamson sent a laser into the centerfield netting in the fifth inning.  The patient-hitting sophomore worked a full count before sending a Mackenzie Boehler change-up over the fence, good for her 13th home run of the season
 
Down 4-0, the Warriors (30-21) finally pushed across a run in the sixth.  Wayne State loaded the bases with three singles against DeMotte before Coach Frost-Fisher went to her bullpen with the tying run at the plate and only one out.
 
Freshman flame-thrower Morgan Foley got the call, and though she walked the first batter she faced, she ended the rally with a strikeout and a liner to second to minimize the damage.
 
The Hounds got the run back with an RBI double from Goodwin in the ensuing half inning.  Foley then worked a 1-2-3 seventh to earn her first collegiate save.  DeMotte (25-2) got the win with a line of 5 1/3 innings, five hits, one run, one walk and two strikeouts.
 
In addition, Foley recorded strikeout No. 300, becoming the first player in program history to reach the milestone. 
 
Though the skies threatened nearly all day, the rain stay after from Baumgartner Field long enough Friday to allow both scheduled regional games to go off without a hitch.  In the first game, No. 4-seed Lewis (31-16) defeated fifth-seeded Ashland (27-19), 5-0.
 
Saturday's schedule begins with UIndy matching up with GLVC East Division-rival Lewis.  The Hounds will have revenge on their minds as the Flyers eliminated UIndy from the conference tournament last weekend.

Note:  UIndy broke a couple of single-season team records Friday, including most runs scored (378)and most RBI (338).  They also tied the program''s season marks for most double (90) and most home runs (58).