OAKLAND CITY, Ind. – Three home runs boosted UIndy baseball past Oakland City in the Greyhounds' regular season finale, 9-7.
The Greyhounds (33-17) have now won 11 games in a row dating back to April 21.
The Mighty Oaks (17-23) were first on the board, however, scoring on a solo homer off of UIndy starter
Adam Cornwell in the second inning.
UIndy responded with six unanswered runs, and in the fifth inning got homers from both
Sean McCracken and
Alex Ritchie. For McCracken it marked his team-best ninth dinger of the season. Ritchie's solo shot was his third in the last four games alone, as the UIndy catcher has gone 10 for his last 18 at the plate.
After
Colin Hawk drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth, the Hounds held a sizeable 6-1 edge over the hosts.
Daniel Lee delivered a RBI double in the seventh, and Hawk capped UIndy's scoring with a home run to left field in the eighth. Like his teammate Ritchie, Hawk has seen a power surge over the last several games, launching three homers in the last five contests.
Down 8-2, Oakland City came storming back with a five-run eighth frame, three runs coming unearned after a trio of UIndy errors. But UIndy eventually escaped the inning and
Brett Collins nailed down his eighth save of the season by closing out the final inning.
Cornwell (4-3) threw six complete, allowing six hits and two earned runs while fanning nine Mighty Oaks batters.
JT Terwilliger,
Pete Allen and
Dylan Stutsman also saw action on the mound prior to Collins' save.
Brady Thomas finished the game 3-for-4 with a run scored, and Ritchie was 3-for-5 with three runs and two RBIs. Lee, Hawk and
Zach Jacobs each deliver multiple hits to the Hounds' efforts.
The Greyhounds next begin the GLVC Tournament at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind. UIndy is the two-seed, and will meet seven-seed Drury Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET in the first round of the double elimination tournament.
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