HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The No. 22-ranked University of Indianapolis baseball team took to the diamond for their season opener on Friday afternoon, taking on the Coker College Cobras at Tom J. New Field.
 
The Greyhounds made opening day a successful one, thanks to three RBI from junior catcher Demetrius Webb and a dominant outing from a pitching staff that struck out 14 batters in a 5-2 UIndy win.
 
Storm Joop had a pair of hits and drove in two runs for the Hounds. John Eberhardt was also impressive in his UIndy debut, going 3-for-5 at the dish and scoring three times. UIndy notched their eighth straight opening day win, dropping Coker to 3-3 on the year.
 
The Hounds did get off to a bit of a rocky start, falling behind in the bottom of the first after a catcher's interference play with the bases loaded forced home the first run of the game. UIndy wasted no time getting that run back, taking the lead in the top of the second when Joop cracked a bases loaded single into left field that scored Eberhardt and Blake Richardson to make it a 2-1 game.
 
Coker got the game back to even in the bottom of the third thanks to a two-out solo home run from Thomas Lopez off UIndy starter Brian Wichman. It was the last time the Cobras would threaten to score as UIndy held Coker to just two hit and four base runners over the final six innings.
 
UIndy grabbed the lead for good in the top of the sixth thanks to some clutch hitting from their new backstop. With two outs and Eberhardt on second, Webb laced a pitch back up the middle for his first hit as a Greyhound, scoring Eberhardt and making it a 3-2 game.
 
Two innings later, the Cobras committed a throwing error with two outs to keep the inning alive. With Richardson and Eberhardt in scoring position, Webb plated both runners with another single up the middle to put the game out of reach.
 
Wichman lasted four innings in his first career UIndy start, giving up one earned run on three hits with a pair of walks and six strikeouts. Jake Shaw (1-0) took over in the fifth and was dominant over his four innings of work, giving up just two hits and striking out seven batters. Dylan Stutsman took over in the ninth and pitched a perfect frame to earn the save.
 
Darius Coldiron (2-1) took the loss for Coker after giving up three earned runs on seven hits over six innings.
 
The two teams will be back at it tomorrow in Hartsville with first pitch set for noon.