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EAST PEORIA, Ill. – In search of its second straight conference crown, the top-seeded UIndy softball team got off on the right foot at the 2013 Great Lakes Valley Conference Softball Championship Tournament Saturday, downing No. 8-seed Saint Joseph's, 9-0, in six innings.  Sophomore Taylor Russell hit two home runs at the plate while senior Jennifer DeMotte pitched her 10th shutout of the season.


Russell continued her hot streak at the plate.  After hitting four homers in the previous three games heading into the weekend, the St. Charles, Ill., native did not record an out Saturday, adding a single and a double to go with her two taters.  She started the game with a one-out solo shot in the first inning and later ended it with a three-run blast in the sixth to run-rule the Pumas (26-18).

Russell now has 15 bombs on the season, just two shy of the program's single-season mark.
 
Meanwhile, DeMotte was close to brilliant in the circle, as the veteran hurler weaved a two-hitter and walked just one in a complete-game effort.  She also fanned seven batters while sitting the Pumas down in order in four of the six frames.
 
DeMotte also contributed two hits and two RBI with the bat, while fellow senior Bailey Wittenauer chipped in a two-run double.
 
The Hounds' triumph avenges a home loss to the Pumas last Wednesday that snapped UIndy's 38-game win streak.   The Crimson & Grey get another shot at redemption tonight when they face Lewis University in a second round match-up at 7 p.m. ET.  Like Saint Joseph's, Lewis defeated UIndy last week by a 2-0 count – UIndy's only blanking of the season.
 
Originally scheduled to start Friday morning, the tournament did not get underway until Saturday, as the entire first day of play was washed out.  Click here for the tournament homepage.

Note:  Saturday's final marked the 400th-career win for UIndy head coach Melissa Frost-Fisher.