SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The No. 18 ranked Greyhound baseball team reached the 30-win mark for the third consecutive season on Saturday, splitting a pair of GLVC contests against Illinois Springfield.
 
UIndy (30-14, 15-7 GLVC) erased a five-run deficit in the opener before suffering a 6-5 defeat. In game two, the Hounds pounded out 16 hits on their way to a convincing 13-1 win.
 
GAME ONE: Illinois Springfield 6 – UIndy 5
 
After setting the Greyhounds down quietly in the first, the Prairie Stars came out swinging and it paid early dividends. UIS notched four hits in their first trip to the plate, two of which brought in runs to stake the Stars to a 2-0 lead.
 
While the Greyhounds continued to sputter on offense, the Prairie Stars remained aggressive and added to the three with three more runs in the bottom of the third, putting the Greyhounds in a five run hole.
 
The Hounds strung together at least one hit in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, respectively, but weren't able to mount a scoring threat. That changed in the top of the seventh when Anthony Asalon ripped a two-run double down the left field line that cut the lead to three.
 
Down to their final three outs, the Hounds rallied all the way back to tie the game. With two outs and the bases loaded, Joop was hit by an 0-2 pitch that allowed Macy Holdsworth to score. One batter later, Brady Thomas roped a single to left field, scoring two and evening things up.
 
But the Hounds couldn't add on the go-ahead run and the hosts made it hurt in the bottom of the ninth, getting a walk-off single from Gabriel Acevedo to end the game.
 
Matthew Kaplanis started for the Hounds before being lifted after allowing five runs on 12 hits with three strikeouts in seven innings. Scott Mitchell (0-1) took the loss after allowing the eventual winning run to reach.
 
GAME TWO: UIndy 13 – Illinois Springfield 1
 
The Greyhounds wasted no time taking the lead in game two, getting an RBI single from Storm Joop in their first trip to the plate. The Hounds added an insurance run in the top of the fourth with an RBI single off the bat of Joe Trennepohl to make it 2-0.
 
With runners on second and third in the bottom of the fourth, the Prairie Stars cut the lead in half with an RBI single, but were denied the game-tying run when Trennepohl cut down Jason Galeano, who was trying to score from second.
 
The Hounds blew the game open in the fifth, getting RBI singles from Thomas, Trennepohl and Holdsworth to make it a 7-1 game. UIndy added even more insurance in the top of the seventh with run-scoring singles from Hawk, Devon Hensley and Dylan Jones, a bases loaded walk from Storm Joop and a sac fly from Kyle Orloff to close the scoring.
 
Jake Shaw (5-3) turned in a quality outing for the Greyhounds, scattering three hits and striking out seven in a complete game effort.
 
The two teams will be back at it tomorrow for another double header, which gets underway at noon central time.